India dominated the first two Test matches in Nagpur and Delhi, but Australia produced a remarkable comeback in the third match to win the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The hosts still needed to win the fourth Test in Ahmedabad despite holding onto the BGT to ensure their spot in the World Test Championship final.
The fourth Test appeared destined for a draw as play went on. India was obliged to rely on New Zealand, who took on Sri Lanka, another team vying for a position in the WTC championship match. Sri Lanka needed to defeat New Zealand in both of their Test matches in order to advance to the WTC summit match, but Kane Williamson’s outstanding performance thwarted their hopes. Rahul Dravid, the head coach of India, responded when asked if they were following the game in New Zealand, saying that it was not in their plans but they were compelled to do so because the Ahmedabad Test ended in a tie.
“We try to produce results in all the Tests we play. We wanted to keep the WTC qualification in our hands, and we were aware that we had to win three matches in the series to make the series between Sri Lanka and New Zealand inconsequential,” Dravid said during an interaction on Star Sports. “The first day we saw the wicket in Ahmedabad, we knew winning the toss would be crucial. Then the way Australia batted in the first two days, forced us to depend on the outcome between Sri Lanka and New Zealand,” he added.
Dravid also talked about the atmosphere in the Indian dressing room as New Zealand constantly attacked Sri Lanka, aiming for a win instead of going for a draw. Kane Williamson’s fearless knock was the reason that New Zealand was able to clinch the victory in the first Test.
“We were stressed to see New Zealand attack and aim for a victory instead of thinking of a draw. We were discussing this among ourselves. But we had to make peace with that as New Zealand will definitely target a win rather than playing a draw. In fact, we did watch the final 5-6 overs during lunch on the screen and it got really exciting,” Dravid said.
