India's embarrassing 209-run loss to Australia in the ICC World Test Championship final 2023 landed a big blow to fans' hopes for the ICC title on June 11. The former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly pointed out that the team needs to score big totals in their first innings if they wish to emerge victorious in the knockout stages.
Ganguly's remarks came after the team failed to reach 300-plus totals in both innings of the WTC final. Rohit Sharma-led side was bowled out on 296 runs in the first innings after a stellar 89-run knock from Ajinkya Rahane. On the other hand, Australia pulled off 469 runs in their first innings despite losing a toss.
The former BCCI president highlighted the difference and also added that his team used to score big totals at big venues consistently. He said that scoring big totals in the first innings adds pressure on opponents and the current Indian team is lacking to do it in knockout matches.
"Aggression is fine but you also need performance with that. If you see the five-six years between 2001 and 2006, India's batting scored 500-600 runs in big-big venues, whether it was Sydney, Brisbane, Headingley, Nottingham, Oval, Peshawar, Islamabad, or Lahore, due to which they put the opposition team under pressure," Ganguly said to Star Sports.
When asked about changes in Test cricket in the last decade, Ganguly said that India need to score 350-400 in their first innings regardless of the changes in situations and wickets.
"So I feel the Indian team will have to do that somewhere or the other. I understand cricket has changed slightly between what it was 10 years ago and now, the situations and wickets have changed, but India will have to see that they score 350-400 runs in the first innings in Test cricket," Ganguly added.
