WTC Final: India become too tight in big games, need to play fearlessly, says Harbhajan Singh

Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh believes the current Indian team lacks the necessary fearlessness to win ICC titles. He added that fielding four seamers in the World Test Championship final was a little “too much.”

India’s last ICC trophy came in 2013 when they won the Champions Trophy. The newest opportunity has come in the form of the World Test Championship final against Australia.

WTC Final Live: India vs Australia Day 3

Related Articles

WTC Final 2023: Date, Time, Telecast, Squads and Live Streaming; India and Australia’s record at the venue

WTC Final 2023: How Team India fielders are preparing for the wicked deviation in English conditions?

In a high-pressure match, Harbhajan, who is at The Oval as a commentator, observed that the players became “too tight” and advised them not to worry about the outcome.

“There is nothing lacking (in terms of skills). The more you play the big games the better you get. I feel you need to play more freely in these big games. I think we have become a bit too tight. Will have to play more freely and not think about the results.

“The more you leave the players to do the job, they will do the job. If you put pressure on them that if you don’t perform well, some get dropped and some don’t (they will feel under-confident).

“The idea is to give them confidence that even if you don’t do well, give your best. That way we will probably lift a few cups. Just play fearlessly,” Bhajji said.

India entered the final with four seamers and a spinner in Ravindra Jadeja. That meant World No 1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin is sitting out.

India had got the combination wrong in the WTC final two years ago and it seems they have erred on this occasion too.

“The game is for five days so you have to choose your bowlers according to those five days. Ashwin is a proven performer, four seamers are a bit too much. Day four, day five are as important as day one. It is also important how you finish the race.

“May be the management did not think too much about it and went ahead with four seamers which is way too many. It was still understandable if someone of the caliber of Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami was sitting out, then it would have still been okay (to play four pacers),” said the former off-spinner.

Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur did not look at their best in the first innings of the game while Siraj and Shami got more out of the surface.

“Maybe management thought the conditions were more in favour of the seamers. You needed to take a call between Shardul or Ashwin. It is hard on Ashwin to sit out even after taking so many wickets.

“Would have been better to play Ashwin and play two-spinners instead of four seamers, even though wicket was green on day one,” he opined.

Harbhajan added that the over dependence on Siraj and Shami doesn’t help the team’s cause.

“It has come down to the captain’s confidence also. The captain had more confidence in Shami and Siraj, they were bowing really well in the IPL also.

“Umesh did not play much coming into this game and same with Shardul. Less bowling did not solve the cause,” added Harbhajan.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.