The Indian team has lost the final of the World Test Championship. Australia defeated Team India by 209 runs in the title match. After this defeat, questions are being raised about the Indian team. After the match, Rohit Sharma said in the press conference that his team needed 20-25 days to prepare. So who is he trying to blame when the rest of his team and he himself was busy playing IPL?
Rohit Sharma himself has fallen into the trap by giving this statement. Indian team players were busy playing IPL 20-25 days before the WTC final. Most of the players of the team reached London just six-seven days before the match. On the other hand, most of the Australian players left the IPL and started preparing for the Test final.
Rohit Sharma's statement before IPL 2023
Before IPL 2023, Rohit gave a statement regarding workload management and the league. At that time Team India had lost the ODI series 2-1 to Australia at their home. In such a situation, many former cricketers said that the players fixed for the World Cup should take a rest from tournaments like IPL so that they can remain fresh for international matches like the WTC final. However, Indian captain Rohit had given contrary statements. He had said that he does not think that any player will stay away from IPL to manage the workload.
What did Rohit say before IPL regarding workload?
Rohit said – All the players have a lot of experience. So he has to take care of his body and if he feels that it is not happening, he can always talk about it and take a break for a game or two in the IPL. However, I doubt (if) that it will happen but…. After this Rohit became silent. The IPL ran for almost two months, from 31 March to 28 May (results on 29 May being the reserve day) and all the players, except Cheteshwar Pujara, took part in the league, knowing that they would have to play a game to prepare for the World Test Championship. Will get less than a week.
Rohit gave 'hints' to the franchisee
Rohit had said before the start of the IPL that the Indian team management has given 'signals' to the IPL franchise owners regarding workload management of players keeping in mind the ODI World Cup. Rohit said – It all depends on the franchisee now. Franchises now pick them (players), so we have given some pointers to the teams. However, the final call rests with the franchise and most importantly, the players have to take care of their bodies. Now that Team India has lost the World Test Championship, Rohit says that his team needed 20-25 days to prepare.
These Indian players playing in the final were part of the IPL
Captain Rohit (Mumbai Indians), Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans), Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore), Ajinkya Rahane (Chennai Super Kings), KS Bharat (Gujarat Titans), Ravindra Jadeja from the Indian team playing the World Test Championship final (Chennai Super Kings), Shardul Thakur (Kolkata Knight Riders), Mohammed Shami (Gujarat Titans), Mohammed Siraj (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Umesh Yadav (Kolkata Knight Riders) were playing IPL.
Most of the players reached London a week before
This year the teams of Gujarat, Chennai, Lucknow, and Mumbai reached the playoffs. Rohit's team Mumbai where on May 26, Gujarat was out after losing in Qualifier-2. At the same time, the Kolkata team played the last match of the league round on 20 May. After this Umesh and Shardul had reached London. At the same time, Kohli's Bangalore played the last match on 21 May. Despite this, Kohli and Siraj were able to reach England only 10 days before the WTC final. The players of Gujarat and Chennai were playing in the IPL final on 29th May. Most of the players arrived in England a week before the Test final.
These Australian players who played in the final played in the IPL
On the other hand, the Australian players had distanced themselves from the IPL. Only two players from the Australian playing-11 of the World Test Championship final played in the IPL. While players like Steve Smith, and Marnus Labuschagne were not bought by any franchise in the auction, captain Pat Cummins distanced himself from the IPL and did not name in the auction. Cummins also said that it helped in preparing for the Test final. Only David Warner (Delhi Capitals) and Cameron Green (Mumbai Indians) played in the IPL. The remaining nine players reached England and started preparing for the World Test Championship. Many Australian players had started preparing for it in their own country. He got the benefit of this and the team became the champion.