Sourav Ganguly said that Such intent was missing (on Day 1).
Sourav Ganguly on WTC Final loss
“Mohammad Siraj threw a ball towards Steve Smith in the first session of Day 2 in the WTC final and then India’s bowling became different from both ends. Such intent was missing (on Day 1),” Ganguly told Sports Tak.
India won the toss and decided to bowl first. It was because of the overcast conditions on the ground. However, The Oval ground is known for bat first pitch in the longest format of the game. Even though the Indian pacers picked the wickets of the top order batsman of the Australian team. They were not able to take the wickets of Travis Head and Steven Smith. Both the middle order batsman stayed not out through out the day. Even on the second day, they started off well but the intent of Indian bowlers bought them into the game.
This is what exactly Ganguly was stating as the reason for the loss in the match. They got all out for 469 runs. Their wicket keeper batsman added some crucial runs with the lower order players. The Indian team top order along with Virat Kohli choked perfectly again in a knockout game. Still, Rahane and Shardul Thakur pulled things on India’s way but it was not that enough. They could only make 296 runs.
