WTC Final: India need to play fearlessly to win the title, says Harbhajan Singh

London: Former India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh believes that the current team has not shown the fearlessness that is needed to win an ICC title and fielding four fast bowlers in the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) is a bit ‘too much’. Was. Having missed ICC knockout games on several occasions since winning their last trophy in 2013, India find themselves in a hole in the WTC final against Australia.

Harbhajan, who was here as a commentator, saw the players getting ‘too tight’ in a pressure match and advised them not to worry about the results. There is no shortage (in terms of skills), he said. The more you play the big game the better you get. I think you need to play more freely in these big matches. I think we are being a little too tight. Will have to play more freely and not think about the consequences. The more you leave the players to work, they will work. If you put that pressure on them that if you don’t perform well, some drop out and some don’t (they’ll feel less confident). The idea is to make them believe that even if you don’t do well, give your best. That way we’ll probably pick up a few cups. Just play fearlessly.

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‘R Ashwin is a proven artist’

World number one Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin had to sit out the game as India entered the final with four fast bowlers and one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja. India got the combination wrong in the WTC final a few years back as well and it looks like they got it wrong on this occasion as well.

He said, ‘The game is of five days, so you have to choose your bowlers according to those five days. Ashwin is a proven performer, four seamers is a bit much. The fourth day, the fifth day is as important as the first day. It is also important how you finish the race. Maybe the management didn’t think much about it and went ahead with four fast bowlers which is too many. Even if someone of the caliber of Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami was sitting outside, it would have made sense (to feed four fast bowlers).

Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur haven’t been at their best in the first innings of the game, while Siraj and Shami have had more to offer from the surface. “Perhaps the management thought that the conditions were more in favor of the fast bowlers. You needed to take a call between Shardul or Ashwin. It is difficult for Ashwin to sit out even after taking so many wickets. It would have been better to play Ashwin and play two spinners instead of four fast bowlers, although the wicket was green on the first day.

Harbhajan added by saying that over-reliance on Siraj and Shami does not help the team. He said, ‘It has also reduced the confidence of the captain. The captain had more faith in Shami and Siraj, they were bowling very well in the IPL as well. Umesh did not play much in this match and the same happened with Shardul. Bowling less didn’t solve the problem.