“The choice is yours”: Ravi Shastri on Players choosing IPL over WTC Final Preperation

The World Test Championship (WTC) final is a game that India captain Rohit Sharma has stated he would want to have 20 to 25 days to prepare for. However, former coach Ravi Shastri believes that following the IPL, such an arrangement would not be feasible in the future unless modifications are made by all parties involved.

Australia defeated India by 209 runs in the final. The IPL 2023 concluded on May 28, giving the team just one week to get ready for the championship game.

According to Ravi Shastri, players will need to miss a few IPL matches in order to have more time to prepare for the WTC final.

Ravi Shastri said

“That’s never going to happen. Let’s be realistic. You’re going to get 20 days, but if that’s the case, you got to miss the IPL. The choice is yours (players),” Shastri said on Star Sports.

The former India player further stated that in order to address the issue of inadequate planning, the Board of Control for Cricket will need to reach an agreement with IPL teams.

“It’s up to the establishment as well. I’m sure the BCCI is going to review this in the future. If the WTC Final is going to come after the IPL, in month of June, for that season, if your team qualifies for the final, there should be certain clauses put in for the franchises,” said Shastri.

Sharma claimed that a lengthy training camp will benefit India in succeeding, much as it did for them during their 2021 visit of England, following their defeat in the WTC final in 2023.

“Ideally, yes, event like this, final like this, you need a lot of time to prepare yourself and that is what we did in the last time when we were here in England. We had good 25-30 days to prepare ourselves. And you saw the result. We were 2-1 up until that game got called off.

“We would want to have good time in hand to prepare, give enough rest to the bowlers.

“And then Test cricket obviously requires a lot of discipline, hitting that area consistently and challenging the batsmen – but again you know Shami, Siraj, Umesh they all are experienced. But in an ideal scenario, yes, I would prefer if we have 20, 25 days to prepare for a game like this,” Rohit said.

As India suffered a crushing loss to Australia, Shashtri also lambasted the Indian hitters for their poor shot choices.

“What’s amazed me though is the way that the pitch has behaved. Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara will be kicking themselves for playing the shots that they played. They were poor shots when they were batting beautifully,” Shastri said.

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