The final match of the second edition of the World Test Championship will be played between India and Australia at the Oval in England from June 7-11. Now there are less than 20 days left for the start of this duel for the title. Meanwhile, former Australian captain and Delhi Capitals manager Ricky Ponting has made a big statement.
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes Pat Cummins and Co. will have a slight advantage over Rohit Sharma and his team in England conditions. Australia’s best batsmen Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne play county cricket, as do fast bowlers Sean Abbott and Michael Neser. Australia’s overall winning percentage at The Oval in Tests is 18.42, slightly higher than India’s 14.28.
Ponting said: “If you just look at it from a conditions standpoint, you would think that the conditions in England should be a bit more suitable for Australia, because the conditions in England are definitely similar to Australia and different from the India”. .”
“I have actually been to India and played Test cricket here. We have seen and played in wickets that are very spin friendly and have always been difficult to play,” Ponting said at the official WTC opening event. . end on friday. Yes. But conditions in England will be different.”
Ponting also claimed that the red Kookaburra ball could be used in the World Test Championship final. Interestingly, the Dukes’ ball was used for the first World Test Championship final in Southampton in 2021, where New Zealand emerged victorious over India. Every time you go to England, you’re used to seeing Duke Ball
After IPL 2023 ends on May 28, India will have just ten days to acclimatize and adapt to the conditions in England for the WTC final. However, Ponting feels that this should not affect his preparation for the highly anticipated WTC final.
The former Australian captain said: “There are two ways of looking at it. Someone like Virat (Kohli), likes to play and score runs consistently and go into the match with confidence. Australian bowlers have played more cricket at home. So So he’s going to be extremely ready to run under his belt and there’s both ways of looking at it.”
Ponting further said: “Mohammad Shami will be better than Pat Cummins in terms of skill, because he hasn’t played cricket for a few months. Indian players playing IPL won’t think about that. They will be on workload management stuff.” in order to ensure that they will be fit enough to bowl a test match in a few weeks, interestingly, not all of these players will be playing in the IPL final on May 28, some of whom will be out Two and a half will be given half weeks as rest and preparation time.