When the Indian Test team take the field against Bangladesh, they will have no option but to go for the win as only a win in their next six Test matches can assure them of a place in the WTC final.
“There is a Test championship (final) qualification so we will also have to be aggressive. We know where we stand and what we need to do to qualify for the final,” said Rahul during a media conference after the unveiling of the trophy.
For starters, the team will be without Jadeja, Bumrah, Shami and regular skipper Rohit Sharma.
As of now, the Indian team is placed fourth in the table with 52.08 percentage points while Australia (75 percentage points) and South Africa (60 percentage points) are placed first and second. Sri Lanka, with 64 percentage points, is third in the list.
“Each day, each session we will assess what is required for the team in that particular moment and give our best,” said Rahul.
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The season-ending World Test Championship will be held in June 2023 at the Oval in London. Flexibility in mindset is the order of the hour and a key recipe for success.
“We won’t go in with any set mindset. Yes, there is a certain history of a venue, you look at the numbers and take some pointers from that. At least for us we will go there and try to be aggressive and brave, try and get a result,” Rahul added.
Rahul specified that the fans will be seeing a lot o aggressive cricket from Team India.
“The game is played over five days so it is important to break it down to smaller targets. In every session, the demands would be different but one thing is sure that you are going to see a lot of aggressive cricket from our side,” the skipper assured.
A lot of this talk of aggressive intent has come from watching England team’s radically different ultra-aggressive approach, which has caught the imagination of cricket fans.
And skipper Rahul doesn’t think the English style of batsmanship characterises “recklessness”.
“As cricketers, I don’t think it is reckless cricket. They have a certain mindset, they thought about it, they back their players and the players are doing the job for the team, so it doesn’t matter how you have done it. Cricket is changing, there is no set way of how this game needs to be played,” the stylish opener said.
Rahul in fact immensely enjoyed England’s 2-0 series win in Pakistan with a Test match still to go.
“To watch these two matches between England and Pakistan has really been interesting. I am really enjoying watching Test cricket being played like that, a very fearless, taking the game on,” said Rahul.
Talking further, he stated that the team can learn from other teams that are doing well, but added that the approach can’t be the same.
“But each team has its own way. All teams can learn a thing or two from the teams that are doing well. You can’t always have the same approach. You turn up according to the conditions,” he said, providing his take on the English approach.”
Team India will take on Bangladesh in a two-match Test series starting December 14.
(Inputs PTI)
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