‘Just ridiculous’: Pundits slam Indian batting after WTC loss

Former cricketers including Sunil Gavaskar slammed India’s batting after a disappointing show in their loss to Australia in Sunday’s World Test Championship final.
Chasing 444 for victory, India resumed day five on 164-3 with star batter Virat Kohli at the crease, but crashed to 234 all out in the first session at the Oval.
“The batting was in shambles today. It was just ridiculous what we saw,” Gavaskar told Star Sports after India’s 209-run loss. “India have not lasted a session with that batting line-up. I mean, come on!”
It was India’s second successive defeat in the final of Test cricket’s ultimate prize, extending a world-title drought since they won the 2013 Champions Trophy in the one-day format.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar tweeted: “One technical observation I have of most Indian batters, is the keenness to get onto the front foot, to even short of length balls. These are balls Steve Smith, Kane Williamson & Joe Root play back to.”
Speaking on TV to India coach Rahul Dravid, former India captain Sourav Ganguly noted some ordinary batting averages posted by India’s top six.
Dravid admitted his side had not met their usual high standards.
“They (the batsmen) will agree this was not up to their standards,” the coach said. “But these are the same batters who have won two Test series in Australia, and have won Test matches in England.”
“We are working on it,” he added. “Some of the wickets in this Test championship cycle have been quite challenging, but this was a good wicket. So the averages have fallen, but we admit that if we back our bowlers with runs they will win Tests for us.”

India’s performances at ICC events since 1975
ICC 50-over World Cup
1975 6th
1979 7th
1983 Champions
1987 Semi-Final
1992 7th
1996 Semi-Final
1999 6th
2003 Runner’s up
2007 9th
2011 Champions
2015 Semi-Final
2019 Semi-Final

ICC World Cup T20
2007 Champions
2009 Super 8 stage
2010 Super 8 stage
2012 Super 8 stage
2014 Runner’s up
2016 Semi-Final
2021 Super 12 stage
2022 Semi-Final

ICC Champions Trophy
1998 Semi-Final
2000 Runner’s up
2002 Co-Champions with Sri Lanka
2004 Group Stage
2006 Group Stage
2009 Semi-Final
2013 Champions
2017 Runner’s up

ICC World Test Championship
2021 Runner’s up
2023 Runner’s up