WTC Final: You've got to miss IPL for 20 days of preparation, says Shastri

After India's World Test Championship loss to Australia, India's former head coach Ravi Shastri responded to Indian captain Rohit Sharma's statement about needing "20-25 days to prepare", and said that in that case, they would have to miss some Indian Premier League (IPL) matches.

India lost the ICC World Test Championship title for the second time after reaching the finals. Australia defeated India by 209 runs at The Oval and made history by becoming the first-ever team to clinch all major ICC trophies.

After dominating India over the course of five days Australia secured their maiden World Test Championship 2023 title on Sunday at the Oval, London. India was bundled out at 234 in 63.3 overs while chasing 444, with Mohammad Shami the last player standing with a score of 13(8)*.

 

"Let's be realistic here. You're not going to get those 20 days. And if that's the case then you've got to miss IPL," Shastri said to Star Sports as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"So, the choice is yours and it's up to the establishment as well. I'm sure the BCCI will review this in the future, if a World Test Championship [final] is going to come after an IPL every time in the month of June, then for that season, if your team qualifies for the final, there should be certain clauses put to franchises," he further added.

The Indian skipper had made the case that "ideal preparation," which they had when they were visiting England. They had started preparing over three weeks before the Test series in 2021, and that had benefited them, leading to India taking a 2-1 lead until Covid-19 caused the delay of the final Test.

"Yeah, ideally, we would want to have a good time in hand to prepare, give enough rest to the bowlers," Rohit said at the post-match press conference.

"Sometimes, it can be tough because playing T20 cricket, you completely bowl different lengths, different lines, and a lot of change-ups.

And then Test cricket, obviously, requires a lot of discipline, hitting that area consistently and challenging the batsmen - but again, you know [Mohammed] Shami, [Mohammed] Siraj, Umesh [Yadav] they all are experienced, they obviously know how to prepare themselves and get ready for a game like this. But in an ideal scenario, yes, I would prefer it if we have 20-25 days to prepare for a game like this," Rohit had said.