Viv Richard’s teammate Andy Roberts claims India’s “arrogance” resulted in their WTC Final defeat against Australia

Roberts claimed that India have started underestimating the rest of the teams and hence are failing at crucial moments.

Viv Richard’s teammate Andy Roberts claims India’s “arrogance” resulted in their WTC Final defeat against Australia

Andy Roberts (L), Rohit Sharma (R) (Image via CWI and Twitter)

Rohit Sharma-led India faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. India lost their second successive WTC Final as Pat Cummins’ Australia beat them by 209 runs. This defeat drew a lot of flak from experts. Meanwhile, former West Indies legend Sir Andy Roberts who played alongside the great Vivian Richard has claimed that Team India’s “arrogance” bogged them down against the Aussies. 

Roberts claimed that India have started underestimating the rest of the teams and hence are failing at crucial moments. The former West Indies cricketer also blamed the team collectively rather than putting it on a particular individual. 

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“There is this arrogance which has crept into Indian cricket and through this, India have underestimated the rest of the world. India must decide what their focus is: Test cricket or limited overs cricket. T20 cricket will run its course. There is no contest between bat and ball there,” said Roberts to Mid-Day in an interview. 

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Andy Roberts defends Virat Kohli

virat kohli wtc final 2nd innings
Virat Kohli (File Pic)

The former West Indies pacer also talked about India’s batting unit that failed to rise up to the challenge and put forth a Final-like performance. Roberts then also defended Virat Kohli saying he got a brute of a delivery in the first innings. 

“I expected India to show their batting strength. I saw no bright spot in the final although Ajinkya Rahane fought hard; got hit on his hand. Shubman Gill looks good when he plays those shots, but he stands on the leg stump and is often dismissed bowled or caught behind. He has good hands, but he must get behind the ball. Virat Kohli, though, got a brute of a delivery from Mitchell Starc in the first innings,” said the West Indies legend.

Notably, Kohli was dismissed on 14 by Mitchell Starc in the first innings while the former India captain fell one short of his half-century in the second inning.

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