WTC Final 2023: India's bid to becoming the World Test Champions is one win away as Rohit Sharma's men face Pat Cummins-led Australia in the final of WTC 2023 at The Oval. India have qualified for Test championship on two out of two attempts but were the runners up in the previous edition to New Zealand. Now as they come within touching distance of another ICC trophy, captain Rohit Sharma has outlined one big threat for the Indian team.
Skipper Sharma put his thoughts out in an ICC event 'Afternoon With Test Legends' on Sunday. He stated that the playing conditions is a big challenge in England. He said that a player is never set playing Test cricket in England and pointed that the players need to be focused for longer periods.
"Look, I think, in England in general, it's pretty challenging conditions for batters. As long as you are prepared to have a good grind, you can have success," Rohit said. As a batter, one thing I realised in 2021, you are never in (set) and the weather keeps changing. You need to keep concentrating for longer periods of time and you will get that intuition when it's time to take on the bowlers. More importantly you need to be out there and you have got to understand what your strengths are," the skipper said.
Good idea to know scoring pattern of former players: Sharma
The Indian captain has also stated that it is a good idea to know the scoring patterns of former players. "I am not going to try and emulate them (successful players) but it would be a bit nice to know their pattern of scoring. What I have found out at Oval is that the square boundaries are pretty quick," Sharma added.
Sharma looks to clear the final hurdle and opened on the challenges of the Test format. "It keeps challenging you. You want to be in these situations. You look forward and as a person, it brings the best out of you. In last 3-4 years in Test cricket, we have had good success. Now it is about crossing that final hurdle and giving that confidence to youngsters so that they can play in the way they want to play," he said.
The 36-year-old also opened on challenges of switching pattern for a three-format player. "That (change of formats) certainly has been the challenging factor. You know you play multi-format. Mentally you have to be very adaptable and tweak your technique. You need to be talking to yourself and get mentally ready," he said.
