India should have played another batsman in the WTC final, more game practice would have helped to win: Irfan Pathan said

India’s batting in the second innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) final was disappointing and they could have got more match practice before the match, former fast bowler Irfan Pathan said. In the match, India lost with a score of 217 and 170, and New Zealand won with a difference of eight points.

“I think India played with fewer batsmen which I highlighted before the ICC World Test Championship Final. I feel there was a need for one more batsman in the team. We do not have a quality fast-bowling all-rounder – which New Zealand possesses and it is hard to find one,” Pathan said on Star Sports.

“Now, If we talk from a proper cricketing point of view what went wrong with India? I think the first inning went great, but India’s batting in the second inning was disappointing. The ball wasn’t swinging as much in the second inning, and Indian batsmen could have batted more responsibly. I am aware of Rishabh Pant’s abilities as a batsman and how he can hit balls very well, but that does not mean you hit a fast bowler outside a sense of responsibility was required,” he said.

“Indian batters were using a lot of pull shots on bouncers; instead of using their body and this showed a lack of commitment. These questions are tough, but I hope Indian batsmen have the strength to give their answers in the future. And now we are back on the same topic Kiwi batsmen were able to make 140 runs with the loss of two wickets, but our Indian team lost eight wickets building the same score,” he said.

Pathan said that the lack of match practice was evident by how tired the Indian fielders looked. India arrived in England a month after New Zealand and played an intra-squad game in preparation while New Zealand defeated England 1-0 in a two-match Test series before the WTC final.

“By the time we started fielding for the second session, our bowlers were already tired. This happened because India didn’t get enough match practice. When a team gets less match practice, they don’t have the kind of match fitness required for a particular game,” said Pathan.

“I feel this will improve eventually. I think Indian bowlers should’ve opted for more bouncers the way Neil Wagner did. And improvement is required in length, because we witnessed a lot of cut shots and back-foot punches from Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor,” he said.