'Exact Same Thing Occurred During Previous WTC Final': Former India Opener on Team's Dismal Performance vs Australia

India’s wait for a first ICC title since 2013 continues following a one-sided defeat to Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship.

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer reckons that the Indian team did not get enough time to prepare for the Ultimate Test following the conclusion of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The nearly two-month-long IPL season came to an end on May 29 while the WTC final got underway from June 7.

During an interaction with Sportskeeda, Jaffer highlighted the difference between a T20 tournament and a red-ball game, saying just one week of preparation was not enough for the WTC final.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid rued the absence of enough preparation time.

Jaffer said India’s below-par performance in the 2021 WTC final, which saw New Zealand picking up a comfortable 8-wicket victory, was also under similar circumstances.

In Jaffer’s opinion, the situation was quite the same at that time as the Indian cricketers had just come off an IPL season and the workload of the franchise tournament had a major impact on the players.

“The exact same thing occurred during the previous WTC final against New Zealand as well and that one was also lost. I simply think they didn’t have enough time to get prepared,” Jaffer said.

The WTC-bound players arrived in England in separate batches due to their involvement in IPL.

The cricketers whose teams didn’t qualify for the IPL Playoffs jetted off to England early after the group-league matches were completed. But members of the finalists– Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans– who were also part of the WTC squad – could leave only after the final showdown.

“The bowlers’ length was on the shorter side. The fact that all of the bowlers came directly from the IPL might be one of the causes. In the IPL, one has to bowl just four overs, while 17 and 18 overs need to be delivered here. Their body was not accustomed to that difference,” Jaffer said.

Jaffer thinks the switch between the formats affected the batters as well. “Batters were not accustomed to leaving many balls and finishing two sessions at once. It’s a significant switch that is difficult,” he said.