India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 by 2-1 at home, finishing the first three matches within the first three days on spin-friendly pitches.
Harbhajan Singh pointed out team India’s lack of preparation prior to the ICC World Test Championship final 2023 (WTC) final against Australia on Wednesday, June 13. The former Indian cricketer highlighted that India’s 2-1 win in Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 gained them ‘fake confidence’ as it came due to ‘bad pitches’ in India.
India entered the WTC final as a world no.1 Test team and with a lot of confidence gained from their triumph in Border-Gavaskar. But it all came crashing down at The Oval from Day 1 as India suffered an embarrassing 209-run loss on Day 5, June 11.
India’s think-tank had a tough decision to make with the bowling combination at The Oval’s green pitch. And to everyone’s shock, the world no.1 Test bowler Ravichandran Ashwin was not in India’s playing eleven for the WTC final. However, despite winning the toss, the Indian team was on the back foot from Day 1 as Pat Cummins-led side dominated in every area.