'The choice is yours': Ravi Shastri asks Indian players to get their priorities sorted

Why you're reading this: The Indian cricket team faced a humiliating loss against Australia by 209 runs in the final of the ICC World Test Championship 2023. None of the Indian batsmen were able to deliver in the IND vs AUS WTC 2023 Final and this was one of the major reasons for the team's loss at the Kennington Oval. The team faced a lot of flak after their loss from the cricketing experts including ex-India head coach Ravi Shastri. 

3 things you need to know 

• Team India lost to Australia in the WTC 2023 Final
• Australia defeated India by a margin of 209 runs
• Team India will now take on the West Indies, starting from July 12, 2023 

Team India continues to choke in the ICC knockouts

This is not the first time that the Indian cricket team has choked in a much-important ICC knockout match. This was the 8th instance when the team has not been able to keep their contention alive and have been eliminated from the tournament The last time India won an ICC tournament was in the year 2013 Champions Trophy under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. 

However, there were a lot of players in the Indian squad who were coming off a gruelling Indian Premier League schedule. The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and many more walked into the WTC 2023 Final after the completion of their franchise commitments. As far as the Aussies are concerned, nobody other than Cameron Green and David Warner were involved in the IPL or any franchise cricket match. Most of the Aussie players were busy preparing for the all-important event. Steve Smith who scored a century played county cricket to improve his performance in the English conditions. 

Ravi Shastri puts his thoughts on Indian team's preparation for the WTC Final 

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In a conversation with Star Sports, Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri said that Team India captain Rohit Sharma would have liked 20 to 25 days to prepare for the WTC Final. The former cricketer also said that the players had to make a choice between playing in the Indian Premier League or the World Test Championship Final

"Let's be realistic here. You are not going to get those 20 days. And if that is the case then you will have to leave the IPL. So, the choice is yours and it also depends on the setup. I am sure the BCCI will review. In future, if every time in June the final of World Test Championship is played just after the culmination of IPL, then for that season if your team qualifies for the final then some provisions have to be made in the franchise.

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India skipper Rohit Sharma gave the example of the 2021 England tour wherein the team had been preparing for the series,three weeks prior to the start of the actual matches. However, the gap which the team got for the preparation in 2021 was due to the Indian Premier League being shifted to September which was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When India toured England in 2021, under the leadership of Virat Kohli, they took a lead of 2-1 in the five match Test series. However, due to rise of COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom, the last Test match had to be played in 2022 where England defeated India and the series concluded on both sides having 2 victories each.