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Ajinkya Rahane has said the big loss to England in the first Test of the series proved to be a wake-up call for the Indian team.
The Virat Kohli-led side staged a terrific comeback to win the series 3-1 after a reversal in the first Test in Chennai. Team India had triggered a similar turnaround previously in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy under Ajinkya Rahane's leadership.
During a post-match interview with Star Sports, Ajinkya Rahane observed the loss in the first Test sprung the Indian team into action and credited all the players for gelling together as a unit.
"The entire team came together after losing the first match. We came to know what we need to do as a team and we focussed on our team goals. I feel losing the first match was a wake-up call for us, especially after coming back from Australia but it felt nice the way we came back in the series and played as a team," said Rahane.
While acknowledging that the Indian team was not on top of their game at the start of the series, Ajinkya Rahane stated that they drew a lot of confidence from a similar comeback in Australia.
"We benefitted a lot from the series win in Australia. Frankly speaking, when we came to Chennai our intensity was a little less because we had just returned home and had come to Chennai after spending 2-3 days at home."
"Reaching the WTC final is like reaching the final of a World Cup" - Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane mentioned reaching the final of the World Test Championship is similar to playing the title decider of a World Cup, when asked about the significance of the achievement.
"Ishant has also said and even I said in the press conference that reaching the World Test Championship final is like reaching the final of a World Cup. This team has 5-6 players who play only Test cricket and it is a big opportunity for us," said Rahane.
The Indian vice-captain feels India qualifying for the final of the inaugural World Test Championship is a just reward for the way they have performed over the last few years.
"I think the credit for this goes to the way we have been playing cricket continuously, not only in the Championship but even before that the way we have played in Test cricket as a team, we have got the reward of that. We should celebrate for now but there is still one more match left, which is going to happen in June, but as of now the way we have played we definitely deserve to be in the final," concluded Ajinkya Rahane.
Team India will take on New Zealand in the final of the World Test Championship starting on June 18 at Lord's. Just like the 2007 T20 World Cup, the Indian team will hope to be the first world champions in the longest format of the game.
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