 "IND vs AUS: 'Lots of issues to resolve,' Irfan, Manjrekar reflect as India fail to qualify for World Test Championship final")
Team India’s hopes of making a third consecutive final of the World Test Championship (WTC) ended on Sunday after a six-wicket loss to Australia in the fifth Test in Sydney. The win enabled Australia to qualify for the 2025 WTC final at Lord’s in June, when they will take on South Africa.
India needed to beat Australia in the fifth Test to keep their WTC final hopes alive and even a win in Sydney would not have confirmed a spot in the summit clash, with their fate going out of their hands and having had to depend on other teams. India had begun the Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test series with a 295-run win in the first Test in Perth under Jasprit Bumrah’s captaincy.
Rohit Sharma had missed the first Test due to the birth of his child, but returned to lead the side from the second Test onwards. However, his questionable tactics and Rohit’s own underwhelming performances with the bat meant India were on the backfoot for most part of the rest of the series. Australia clinched the second Test in Adelaide by 10 wickets, before the third Test in Brisbane ended in a draw.
Australia dominated the fourth Test in Melbourne, winning that match by 184 runs. Amid his poor form with the bat, regular skipper Rohit Sharma opted out of the series finale in Sydney and Jasprit Bumrah took over as captain once again. Bumrah, however, sustained a back spasm on Day 2 of the Sydney Test and the India pacer’s injury was a significant blow for the visitors.
Cricket experts reflect on India’s ouster from WTC final
Cricket experts, including commentator Harsha Bhogle, expressed their views on India’s ouster from the WTC 2025 final. Bhogle said that India will need to fix several issues, including the poor form of senior batters and their over-reliance on Jasprit Bumrah.
India's batters just didn't score enough runs to challenge Australia and so 3-1 is a fair result. Lots of issues to resolve. The form of the senior batters, the over-reliance on Bumrah......
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) January 5, 2025
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAyaz Memon, another renowned journalist, hailed Jasprit Bumrah but was disappointed by the “flop show” from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
Bumrah was spectacular. He He rose from being a fine bowler into an all-time great in the course of the series.
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 5, 2025
The flop show of Rohit and Virat was acutely disappointing and the biggest factor in India losing series and failing to qualify for WTC final
Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan called for “superstar culture” to end in the Indian team. “India doesn’t need superstar culture, India need team culture,” Pathan said on Star Sports.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar slammed Team India following their series loss to Australia," Gavaskar, who was also part of the show, told Star Sports.
Here are a few more reactions from experts:
sobering few months for india in test cricket...a proud home record ended, their decade long hold over the BGT has ended and as a consequence they've failed to make the WTC final for the first time...#INDvsAUS #AUSvIND
— Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) January 5, 2025
Rarely do iconic series live up to expectations, BGT is an exception that exceeds expectations every time. It is solely due to how much this trophy means to the players and how badly they want to win. The result is a cricketing spectacle of the highest order. Congratulations…
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) January 5, 2025
Several fans also lashed out at India head coach Gautam Gambhir following the team’s series loss to Australia and their failure to reach the WTC final. Here are a few reactions:
🚨 If we would have won this match -
— Vishal. (@SPORTYVISHAL) January 5, 2025
We wouldn't have lost the series.
The series would've been draw 2-2.
We would have retained BGT.
We could've played the ICC WTC Final.
This was the biggest match of this WTC cycle but we lost it miserably. pic.twitter.com/inRHEoI5LM
After Gautam Gambhir becomes Head Coach
— Prakash (@definitelynot05) January 5, 2025
- After 12yrs Lost Home Test series against New Zealand
- After 12Yrs Lost BGT Test Series against Australia
- India couldn’t qualify for WTC Final first time since its introduction pic.twitter.com/6ufAFrmMVf
From losing our first home series in 12 years, to losing our first BGT in 10 years. And not making it to the WTC final for the first time.
— Joe (@josephradhik) January 5, 2025
Chalo, the cycle is complete.
Massive respect to Australian cricket team. They are India’s true nemesis. Always there to humble us. Played cricket of highest order.
— Chetan Dhagarra (@Chetan24_09) January 5, 2025
It was a test and we failed miserably. It’s time to make changes . Some big decisions required from the richest board. #AUSvIND
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