'We will start looking at draw as a win' - Dinesh Karthik warns Rohit Sharma and Co. after India's underwhelming performance on Day 1 of WTC 2023 final

The World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final is currently taking place at the Oval in London between the Pat Cummins-led Australia squad and the Rohit Sharma-led Indian team. On the first day of the summit match, the Baggy Greens recovered from losing three of their top-order batters early in the innings to reach a decent score. 

The one-off game began on Wednesday, June 7. Australia, who currently holds the first spot in the WTC 2021–23 standings, ended Day 1 with a total of 327 for three in 85 overs with to Travis Head's undefeated 146 and Steve Smith's 95 not out. The middle-order pair had a fourth-wicket total of 251 runs, breaking Marnus Labuschagne's record as the best Test batsman in the globe.

Australia have a long batting lineup: Dinesh Karthik

Meanwhile, Indian veteran cricketer and commentator Dinesh Karthik talked about what should the Indian team do in the second day of the match. He said that India must bundle up the Australian batting lineup before 420 runs and if they couldn’t do this, they will only be able to play for a draw.

“If India need to come back in the game, make no mistake, there's only chance is if they pick 3 early wickets in the first session. If they don't do that, we will be way behind. Immediately, we will start looking at the draw as a win. Australia have a long batting lineup, if you don't get them before 400-420, it's going to be real hard work,” Karthik was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

After the first day, Smith talked about his partnership with Head and said that the left-hander shifted the momentum completely and said that Indian bowlers were a bit short but Head was brilliant and started putting pressure on them.

“Travis shifted the momentum, (India) were perhaps a bit short in that middle session but Travis was putting pressure on them so it was a fine line.” Steve Smith said after the end of the first day.