For Indian skipper Virat Kohli the road to the World Test Championship is not an extraordinary journey, or he is at least downplaying the occasion whenever he has been asked about the all-important final to be played at Lord’s. For other Indian players who represent India only in the Test format, the WTC final and a triumph will be as extraordinary and special as winning an ODI World Cup.
This analogy was first given by pacer Ishant Sharma who before his 100th Test had said that India are on verge of something special, and he hs now received backing from his vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane.
Addressing a virtual press-conference on Tuesday, Rahane reiterated Ishant’s feelings about the WTC final and said that the team is gelling in nicely and has an eye on the final, while they are more focussed on keeping their approach centred to the fourth Test against England.
“Absolutely, Ishant was spot on in what he said. Winning the WTC is equal to winning the World Cup. We are all focusing on that, having said that, the focus right now is to play the fourth Test against England. Ishant was completely right,” said Rahane said.
The pitches in the ongoing Test series between India and England have been challenging for batsmen of either side, and both England and India have collapsed in three matches so far.
Rahane said that banking on defence is the key to succeed on such pitches and batsmen have to adapt on playing the line of the ball and at the same time not thinking about the vicious turn or lack of it on the previous balls.
“When you play on spinning tracks, you have to play the line and you know that. In India, we haven't played so many games in the last two-three years. When you play on that spinning and seaming wickets, it's all about playing the line, when the ball is spinning too much, you do not have to think about it, you just have to play the line, if you miss the ball, you miss the ball. Backing your defence and ability on seaming and spinning wicket is something we follow,” Rahane added.
Rahane himself has struggled with the bat in the series, except for one innings when he batted for more than a session and stitched a mammoth partnership with Rohit Sharma to take India past the 300-mark in the first innings. He failed in the only innings of the last Test and India will need him to come good in the fourth Test when a spot in the World Test Championship is at stake.