NEW DELHI: India all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who scored a brilliant 51 in the first innings, has called The Oval pitch under prepared, saying it is very different from the surface they played on back in 2021. India had won the Oval Test by 157 runs in September 2021 with Shardul getting a fifty in each innings.
Shardul and Ajinkya Rahane shared a valuable 109-run stand to take India to 296 in reply to Australia's first-innings total of 469 on the third day of the World Test Championship final.
"The pitch is surely different. Last time we played the pitch was doing something and everyone knows if there is cloud cover in England the ball moves around.
1/10:WTC Final: Australia heap misery on floundering India
AP
2/10:Pat Cummins
<p>Pat Cummins produced a vicious bowling onslaught to leave India battered and bruised as Australia took a 296-run lead on Day 3 of the WTC final at The Oval on Friday. </p>AP
3/10:Leader of the pack
<p>Australia's four-man pace attack claimed nine wickets between them to dismiss India for 296 in their first innings, with captain Cummins picking up three scalps. </p>Getty Images
4/10:Ajinkya Rahane
<p>Ajinkya Rahane top scored for India with 89, while Shardul Thakur survived some painful hits to his arm to contribute 51. </p>AP
5/10:KS Bharat
<p>The morning session got off to a painful start for India when Scott Boland dislodged KS Bharat's stumps with the second ball of the day. </p>Getty Images
6/10:109-run stand
<p>While Thakur lived dangerously, Rahane went about rescuing India's hopes with his mix of delectable shot selection in the 109-run partnership for the seventh wicket. </p>ANI
7/10:5,000 Test runs
<p>Rahane followed up an exquisite four with a belter of a six to bring up his 26th Test 50 and crossed 5,000 Test runs during his knock which included 11 fours and a six. </p>Reuters
8/10:Rahane falls
<p>Rahane fell 11 runs short of scoring a century after Cummins had him caught by Green and Thakur steered India past the follow-on target before bringing up his 50 with a four. </p>AP
9/10:Shardul Thakur
<p>Thakur soon fell after he edged a Green delivery straight into the gloves of wicketkeeper Alex Carey. </p>AFP
10/10:Mohammed Shami
<p>Umesh Yadav (5), Thakur (51) and Mohammed Shami (13) were out in quick succession as India lost their last four wickets for 35 runs. </p>AP"As the game went forward last time and the team started taking rollers it became flat. But this time it was not anything like that. It was under prepared I felt going in to the game. Like we saw yesterday and today it was a bit up and down," Shardul said.
From one particular end, the ball took off from length and the Australian pacers exploited that effectively.
"If we see yesterday's play also, pitch changed a little. Ball was hard and bouncing from odd length. With six wickets down on the board, not too many runs, under pressure, yes you would say the toughest hour though I have played handful of game but felt like welcome to Test cricket.
"There is an area from where the ball is coming up, there is a little grass around the crack and the length is such that batsmen can't leave the deliveries easily. You have to play, commit because we saw today many balls kept down and I mean that is an area of good length, and I mean, that area is at a good length, a little short of length.
"So that's the area where the batsmen can't immediately see and leave the ball. You have to play it. And if it bounces from there – then good luck for the batsmen. It was bouncing from the other end too – but from a bit behind, so the batsmen were getting time to adjust," said Thakur.
Thakur asserted that India remain very much in the game despite trailing Australia by 296 runs.
"Cricket is a funny game. You can never say what is the right total, especially in an ICC final. One good partnership and you can chase down 450 or maybe more than that. We saw last year England chased 400 here and they did not lose too many wickets."
He was all praise for Rahane who made a gritty 89 in his comeback Test.
"Ajinkya is one of the top players in the world. He has scored runs in England Australia and South Africa. It did not seem that he was batting badly though he wasn't getting the runs (before being dropped). Even today he was using all his experience of batting in English conditions."
(With inputs from PTI)
