'I even asked Rahul Dravid about it' - Sourav Ganguly recalls conversation he had with Rahul Dravid after India's loss in WTC 2023 final

On June 11 at The Oval, India lost the World Test Championship (WTC) 2021-23 final against Australia infuriatingly by a score of 209 runs. The Men in Blue qualified for the WTC final a second time in a row, but they were unable to triumph in any of them. In the 2019–21 season, New Zealand defeated them.

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Meanwhile, former legendary Indian captain Sourav Ganguly recently explained how difficult it was for the Indian team to live up to the expectations. Ganguly said that the 5th-day play is quite different in SENA countries as the pace increases at the final stages of a Test match here.

“Anti-climax for sure but we were expecting too much on Day 5. 280 runs are a lot when you have only three batters left - Kohli, Jadeja and Rahane. The fifth day's cricket is different in these countries. It becomes double-paced, whether it is England or Australia. That is why probably such runs have not been scored for the last 100 years,” Ganguly told Star Sports.

You have to score runs at this level: Sourav Ganguly

The former president of the Indian Cricket Board also said that he and Harbhajan Singh even asked about the failure of India’s top order. He also brought up the batting difficulties, noting that only Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur were able to produce half-centuries against Australia in the recently held final. He said that it doesn’t whether you’re a big player or a youngster, you have to score runs at this level.

“They should have put up a better fight. Harbhajan Singh and I even asked Rahul Dravid about it. There is a slight dilemma while asking as well as you have yourselves played cricket and won and lost matches but sometimes you need to ask. The averages we have seen in the last five years - 26 to 28, no matter how big a player you are, you have to score runs at this level if you have to win big tournaments, which India haven't done,” Ganguly said.