Even 450 can be chased: Shardul Thakur hopeful of record chase from India in WTC final vs Australia

India all-rounder Shardul Thakur has said that even 450 runs can be chased down in the final of the World Test Championship.

Australia are currently leading India by 296 runs at the end of Day 3 in the WTC Final at the Kennington Oval.

Speaking at the press conference after Day 3, Shardul said even 450 runs can be chased down on the back of one good partnership. Shardul scored a half-century to help India post 296 runs in their first innings in the WTC Final.

“Well, cricket is a funny game. You can never say what is the right total and this one-off game, especially ICC finals, you never know, I mean, who can handle the pressure better out there, one good partnership when you can even chase down 450 or maybe more than that,” said Shardul.

He went on to say that last year England chased down a target close to 400 runs against India in their one-off Test in Birmingham. England chased down a 378-run target against India to level the five-match series 2-2 in June last year.

“Last year England chased 400 here and they did not lose too many wickets. So that’s a positive sign for us. Whatever they put up on the board, it’s too early to make any predictions. We see a lot of times in Test cricket that game changes within an hour. So yes, we like to be optimistic tomorrow going on the field. And yeah, we’ll take it on from there,” Shardul added.

Speaking about his partnership with Ajinkya Rahane, Shardul said they had to absorb the pressure and kept talking to each other throughout their 109-run stand for the seventh wicket on Day 3.

“We didn’t decide anything. There was no situation to decide anything. We just had to absorb the pressure. We were talking to each other a lot,” said Shardul.

Meanwhile, Australia pacer Mitchell Starc said they will continue batting on Day 4, adding that hopefully the pitch can play a few tricks in the fourth innings. Australia posted 469 runs in the first innings and ended Day 3 at 123 for 4.

“I haven’t spoken to Pete (Pat Cummins) yet, so I don’t know. It’s not my decision. I’ll keep batting for now. I’ve still got two days to play. The weather’s been good. I think it’s warmer tomorrow. Hopefully the pitch starts playing a few more tricks but as far as I know it, we’re still batting tomorrow,” said Starc.

India will be aiming to get their hands on an ICC trophy for the first time in almost a decade by defeating Australia in the WTC Final in London.