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Cricket News: WTC Final The Oval pitch report: Australia have slight edge – Ponting | Ricky Ponting says The Oval pitch can suit Australia
Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting has said that the playing conditions at The Oval might hand the Aussies a slight edge over India in the World Test Championship (WTC) final starting from June 7.
“I think it will be a bit more similar to an Australian wicket than it will be to an Indian wicket, therefore I’m giving a slight advantage to Australia,” Ponting was quoted in a report by ESPN.
The three-time World Cup-winning player said that both teams would have had a benefit had either of them hosted the final. However, a neutral venue brings the two teams a bit closer in the summit clash.
The Oval pitch for the WTC 2023 Final will bring two teams closer together – Ponting
“If this game was being played in India, I would’ve said it’s really going to be hard for Australia to win. If this game was played in Australia, I’d say Australia are the heavy favourites. The fact that this final is being played in England, it probably brings both teams a little closer together,” Ponting added.
The Delhi Capitals (DC) head coach explained that India has benefitted from producing top quality fast bowlers in the last decade or so, which has helped them exponentially improve their performances in overseas conditions. He mentioned that India will miss speedster Jasprit Bumrah’s presence but also slipped in an interesting conversation that he had with Indian batting mainstay Virat Kohli in Bengaluru.
“When it comes to the big match-ups, Virat against anyone is going to be a big match-up. I caught up with him when we were there in Bangalore, and I had a good chat with him about his batting and where he’s at in his career and he said to be that he’s back to his absolute best and I think we saw that last night (Kohli’s ton vs SRH) he’s had a very good IPL. He’ll be the prized wicket all the Australians will be looking forward to,” Ponting revealed.
He also said that the batting trio of Cheteshwar Pujara, Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will benefit from playing county cricket whereas the track at the Oval might offer assistance to spinners in the final couple of days of the WTC final.
Squads for WTC 2023 final
Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
