Photo Credit: ICC
India captain Rohit Sharma is adamant his side will not make the same mistakes they did two years ago against New Zealand when they take on Australia in the ICC World Test Championship Final in London.
India fell to an eight-wicket defeat to the Black Caps in the inaugural World Test Championship Final in Southampton in 2021 and get the chance to gain some redemption for that loss when they take on the strong Australia outfit in the one-off clash at The Oval that commences on Wednesday.
India will enter this week’s match without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and first-choice keeper Rishabh Pant due to injury, but Rohit believes his team has enough quality in their squad to cover the loss of this key duo.
“Last time we played we did make a few mistakes, which we have already spoken about in this group,” Rohit said at The Oval on Tuesday.
“There are a few guys missing from that squad, but we are quite excited about the score as well and it is a good challenge to have.
“We know exactly what went wrong for us in the last Championship Final, so hopefully we will not repeat those kind of things.
“You don’t want to repeat mistakes that can get the better results eventually. We have played the opposition a fair bit in the last two or three months so we know what they are capable of – so it’s just about considering all the factors and pulling it through.”
Rohit revealed he will wait until the morning of the match to finalise his playing XI, with much dependant on the often-fickle London weather and what the pitch at The Oval looks like prior to the toss.
Fine weather is predicted for the majority of the clash, but Rohit would not be drawn into making an early call on who is in line for selection.
“The weather forecast looks all right, but in terms of the combination, I think it’s better that we wait until tomorrow,” Rohit added.
Australia counterpart Pat Cummins revealed earlier on Tuesday that seamer Scott Boland had won the race over Michael Neser to fill in for the injured Josh Hazlewood and the skipper is confident the right-armer can perform well in what will be just his second Test on foreign soil.
Boland went wicket-less during the first Test against India in Mohali in February, but Cummins thinks the 34-year-old can thrive in the more suitable English conditions.
“These conditions just seem to suit him, you’d think,” Cummins said.
“He hasn’t played a lot over here, but a seam bowler who will be rewarded for just bowling in the good areas over and over again and that is what he brings to the team.
“He has been fantastic. Even in India, he played the first Test match there on a pretty docile wicket and still did a fantastic job. He’s a seasoned pro. If there’s any assistance in the wicket as well, he just goes to that next level.”
