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WTC23 Final: 'Last Year England Chased 400': Shardul Thakur

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Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur feels that the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia is from over, even though Pat Cummins’ side are in the driver’s seat ahead of the last two days having a lead of 296 runs after Day 3.

Thakur however remained hopeful of a record chase from India, taking inspiration from Australia’s Ashes rivals England who chased down 400 odd runs in their one-off Test at Birmingham against Rohit Sharma’s side.

Speaking in the press conference after Stumps on Day 3, Shardul said that even a figure of 450 is chasable, as Australia were looking to build a big lead after restricting India to 296.

Thakur though played a crucial knock of as he scored a half-century, helping Rohit and Co. avoid the dreaded follow-on.

“Well, cricket is a funny game. You can never say what is the right total and this one-off game, especially ICC finals, you never know, I mean, who can handle the pressure better out there, one good partnership when you can even chase down 450 or maybe more than that," said the 31-year-old.

India took a 2-1 lead in their five-match Test series against England although the fifth match was postponed and when the same was played last year Ben Stokes’ side were able to chase down a 378-run target to level the series 2-2.

“Last year England chased 400 here and they did not lose too many wickets. So that’s a positive sign for us. Whatever they put up on the board, it’s too early to make any predictions. We see a lot of times in Test cricket that game changes within an hour. So yes, we like to be optimistic tomorrow going on the field. And yeah, we’ll take it on from there," added Shardul.

Thakur’s 109-run stand with Ajinkya Rahane helped India remain afloat in the contest following a top-order collapse as the duo’s seventh-wicket partnership on Day 3 saved the day. Shedding light on what they were talking about, with a daunting Australian total on the board, the all-rounder revealed that they just decided to soak up the pressure.

“We didn’t decide anything. There was no situation to decide anything. We just had to absorb the pressure. We were talking to each other a lot," Thakur revealed

https://www.news18.com/cricketnext/...vs-australia-final-far-from-over-8043553.html
 
Hmm

Hope he is right else this statement will not age well.
 
To be honest, India simply need to draw the game to share the Trophy.
 
Sorry Shardul when you have batsmen like Virat Kohli, Pujara etc in the side who are mere passengers and cant score a 40 or 50 in test cricket to save their lives, you are going to LOSE. Lose in a big way.

:))

If Pant was playing, then there would have been a strong chance India could've pulled it off, but he is not...
 
India might as well go for it

You are going to lose trying to survive
 
Sorry Shardul when you have batsmen like Virat Kohli, Pujara etc in the side who are mere passengers and cant score a 40 or 50 in test cricket to save their lives, you are going to LOSE. Lose in a big way.

:))

If Pant was playing, then there would have been a strong chance India could've pulled it off, but he is not...

Pant making that statement would have sent shivers down Aussie spines.
 
One of the India top 5 need to score a 180 score

A partnership of 200+ runs in between wickets and there is a chance
 
It's important to stay positive. But first bowl them under that mark.

England chased 378 vs India last year I think. So, first do that.
 
*****, Gujara, Clown and Hahane.. nah, no way. They are probably telling Thakur - "Pagle chup ho ja., humara aukaad aur niyat, dono hi nahi hai"
 
There is nothing wrong with staying positive. India will have to play with intent to get a win.
 
Big mouth, little performance.

He has not done bad in this test to be honest. The problem with Thakur though is that you dont expect him to take 5 wickets or score a hundred. He is one of those steady guys (a bit like Faheem Ashraf) who will always chip in here and there.

I will always pick Ashwin instead of him, no matter what pitch.
 
Lead is safely above 400 now.

Australia need to give themselves time to win this.
 
Well the way India have started, Thakur may have a point.
 
He has not done bad in this test to be honest. The problem with Thakur though is that you dont expect him to take 5 wickets or score a hundred. He is one of those steady guys (a bit like Faheem Ashraf) who will always chip in here and there.

I will always pick Ashwin instead of him, no matter what pitch.

Yes with Ashwin, 5-fers are a guarantee in SENA conditions. He must have got many of those.
 
Yes with Ashwin, 5-fers are a guarantee in SENA conditions. He must have got many of those.

SENA or no SENA, you cannot bench a quality spinner who has 700 odd international wickets for a guy who bowls 77 mph gentle pace.

With Ashwin you give yourself a chance, specially with the amount of left handers in the Aussie side.
 
Whatever the merits and demerits of what he said, positive thinking - having the skils or not, non selection of ASH etc, fact is We landed on these shores about 25 days too late, spent and tired from the IPL.

In 2021 we lost on the SIXTH day to a side well versed in these conditions which are similar to their home conditions, to a side which had already played 2 tests in same conditions and were battle hardened.

Our guys landed fresh off modelling for useless tel saboon kangi shampoo pan masalas & online gambling sites. with the result that they were always cathching up after the first 1.5 2 days.

Thanks BCCI - for your elephantine greed of money, your never ending IPL is diluting the quality of test cricket, you have cost a golden generation of our cricketers the pinnacle of their achievement. Such chances do not come often. No probs against the IPL except its 30 days, 45 matches and 3 teams too long.

Having said the above, irrespective of what happens on the 5th day, the match is still a true indication of the two best teams in the world and we have fought well. If we had a best of 3 finals, we'd be runaway winners in 2021, and a real hot shot in 2023.
 
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Sorry Shardul bro - they made you say it but don't think the rest of the batting order meant it.
 
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