WTC Final: Lack of fight from India tailenders put New Zealand on top – Ramiz Raja

Former Pakistan’s batsman Ramiz Raja has said that the lack of fight from the Indian tailenders have put New Zealand on top in the ongoing World Test Championship final at Ageas Bowl, Southampton. India was bundled out for a paltry score of 217 runs as their batsmen failed to get going.

In fact, none of the Indian batsmen were able to cross the 50-run mark. Ajinkya Rahane, the team’s vice-captain top-scored with 49 runs but got out while playing a loose shot and fell into Neil Wagner’s bouncer trap.

The disappointing part for the Indian team was the fact that Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane, who all three have the experience under their belt, got off to starts but could not convert the same to substantial scores.

On the other hand, India’s tail could not wag in the final few overs. Ravichandran Ashwin came up with an aggressive batting approach and scored 22 runs from 27 balls. However, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah were dismissed on successive balls by Kyle Jamieson. Furthermore, Ravindra Jadeja could not hog the strike as much as he would have liked in the final few overs.

Ramiz Raja said on his YouTube Channel, “India have a lot of problems in this Test because they failed to post a good first innings total. Indian tailenders needed to show more fight. If they could have managed 10-15 runs each, it would have frustrated the New Zealand bowlers.

“New Zealand bowlers deserve a lot of praise, especially from Jamieson. His confidence has gone up a lot ever since he returned from the IPL. He received a good bounce and sideways movement due to the conditions. He was extremely economical, creating pressure on the Indian batsmen that eventually resulted in wickets,” Ramiz Raja added.

Raja added that the onus will be on the Indian bowlers to dismiss New Zealand early on Day four. The Kiwis finished Day three at 101-2 and they trail India by 116 runs.

“The onus is now on the Indian bowlers because if New Zealand take a 50-60 run lead then Indian batters will be under immense pressure in the second innings,” Ramiz concluded.