“Warm-Up Game For The Ashes”: Twitter Users Take A Jibe At India’s Performance On Day 1 Of WTC Final 2023

Fans across social media sites were all over team India like a rash right from the Toss time, till the last delivery of the day was bowled at the Kennington Oval. Amidst all the debates and discussions over a host of issues the entire day, the Australian scorecard at Stumps on Day 1 of the World Test Championship final reads a dominating 327/3.

The pair of Steven Smith (95*) and Travis Head (146*) completely annihilated the Indian bowling attack, as they stitched together a partnership worth 251* runs for the fourth wicket.

Head, who is presently batting at a strike rate of 93.6, was pretty severe on the bowlers. It was his unbeaten innings, comprising of 22 fours and a six which has perhaps placed India on the back foot so early into the final. Scoring at a brisk rate right from the get-go, the southpaw batter smashed his sixth Test century and his first outside of Australia.

Team India pacers did have their moments and were perhaps unlucky as well, given the number of false shots they managed to induce off the Aussie bats. However, the dearth of wickets ultimately impacted them severely during the final session when the duo took full advantage of the tiring bowlers, who leaked runs at 4.62 runs per over.

Twitter Users Takes A Jibe At India’s Performance On Day 1 Of WTC Final 2023

Users on the micro-blogging site Twitter were busy finding faults and reasons throughout the day for India’s lackluster performance on Day 1 at The Oval.

While some of them were unimpressed with Rohit Sharma‘s captaincy and wished for an on-field aggression usually found within a certain Virat Kohli, others wore a pale-faced look on their face due to latter’s decision to bowl first upon winning the Toss. Yet another dominating section, which also included quite a few former cricketers, criticized the team management’s decision to drop Ravichandran Ashwin from the playing XI.

Unimpressed with the way Indian pacers operated throughout the day, some fans kept reiterating the fact that team India will never get another pacer like Jasprit Bumrah. A few others had conceded to an Indian defeat already, and were convinced that the match is nothing less than a warm-up Ashes game for the Aussies.

It all boils down to the Indian batters’ performances on a pitch which has looked excellent to bat on. But, before that, the bowlers will have to restrict the Aussie batters to as low a score as possible. A score in the vicinity of the 500-run mark will surely mean that India will be left with no other option but to go for a draw.