WTC FinalAustralia win World Test Championship after dramatic Indian collapse

By Rajarshi GuptaAustralia won the World Test Championship after a crushing win over India in the final at The Oval on Sunday. India, who were 164 for 3, suffered a dramatic collapse and lost 7 wickets in the morning session to crash to a 209-run defeat. This was India’s second consecutive defeat in a WTC final; they had lost to New Zealand in the title clash of the inaugural edition in 2021.

WTC Final, India vs AustraliaDay 5 Highlights

This was India’s fourth defeat in the ICC finals after their Champions Trophy victory in England in 2013. India lost the final of the T20 World Cup to Sri Lanka in 2014, then lost the Champions Trophy final to Pakistan in 2017 before a defeat to New Zealand in the WTC final in 2021.

This has now extended India’s wait for an ICC title. They failed to go past the group stages in the 2021 T20 World Cup and lost the semifinal of the T20 World Cup to England in 2022. Before the start of the WTC final at The Oval, coach Rahul Dravid had said India were under no pressure to end their ICC title jinx and the team was roundly criticised for their body language and lack of effort in the first two days of the title clash against Australia.

Rohit Sharma’s decisions to bowl first and leave out R Ashwin, the world’s No.1 Test bowler, were also questioned, There was a general feeling the Indian team management got carried away by the overcast conditions at toss. Australia lost an early wicket but they soon recovered as Travis Head and Steve Smith hit hundreds to put Australia in the driver’s seat.

In response, the Indian top-order failed miserably and they could only reach 296 thanks to half-centuries from comeback man Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur besides useful runs from Ravindra Jadeja. Questions have to be asked of Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli for failing to deliver in a big match yet again.

Rohit Sharma has been especially poor in ICC knockout games and this was the third ICC final where Virat Kohli failed to make any impact.

There was a ray of hope for India at the end of the fourth day after Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane had steered the team to 164 for 3. They needed 280 to win on Sunday and with batting conditions getting better, a historic chase was on the card. However, Australia picked four wickets before lunch on Day 5 and it was all over for India.

Virat Kohli fell to Scott Boland for 49 when he drove a full and wide delivery and edged it to Steve Smith at second slip. Two balls later, Boland dismissed Ravindra Jadeja for a duck and the floodgates were open.

Ajinkya Rahane made a heroic return to the Test side with a gutsy 89 in the first innings. He followed that up with 46 in the second and an 85-run stand with Virat Kohli but at the end, he became another one of India’s batters to play a poor shot; Rahane tried to drive a widish delivery from Mitchell Starc and all he managed to do was edge it to Alex Carey behind the stumps.

Shardul Thakur, who had with Rahane given India a chance to fight in the first innings, was outfoxed by Nathan Lyon for a duck in the second as Australia closed in on a huge win. India offered no fight whatsoever with as Umesh Yadav and KS Bharat departed soon after; the morning session was extended after India lost their ninth wicket with Australia hoping to wrap up victory. Mohammed Siraj was the last Indian wicket to fall as Nathan Lyon struck for the third time in the second innings to secure a famous win for Australia.