Wasim Jaffer. (Photo Source: Instagram/WasimJaffer)
Former India cricketer Wasim Jaffer has expressed his thoughts on India’s chances in the fourth and final Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023, which is played at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The ongoing four-match Test series is currently poised at 2-1 in India’s favour. After two heavy losses in the first two Tests, Australia bounced back into the series with a convincing victory in the third Test and became the first Team to qualify for the all-important World Test Championship final.
As for India, though they have successfully managed to retain the coveted Trophy for yet another time, they are still to officially qualify for the Final. And for that, they will have to win the fourth Test at any costs to completely seal their WTC final berth.
‘It’s a good wake-up call’ – Wasim Jaffer wants India to start afresh
“I think India will make a better comeback. It’s a good wake-up call. They must improve on their batting, especially the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill as they are due for runs. The top five should help the Indian bowlers with runs. If they score 300-400 runs, their bowlers become a lot better. Virat Kohli is due for runs big-time and I expect him to return to his old form and hopefully, India wins the Test match,” the 45-year-old said while speaking on ESPNCricinfo’s Timeout.
The former India opener stated that the massive loss in the third Test was perhaps very much needed for Team India, as it will enable them to deeply scrutinise and introspect on all the mistakes that they committed and ignite in them the hunger to correct everything. He suggested India should collectively take on Australia in every department, especially with the bat.
Jaffer further on, expressed his concern about Axar Patel not being properly used in the third Test. He was of the opinion that Axar’s all-round abilities, especially his confident batting should have been used much earlier in India’s batting order.
“I was surprised and disappointed as Axar Patel’s contribution was critical to India’s win in Delhi. Axar Patel has looked the most comfortable of all Indian batters and he was also unbeaten in the previous Test. He batted at number nine in the second innings and ran out of partners. Hence, India messed up tactically as they sent KS Bharat and Ashwin ahead of Axar.”
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