Former Australian batting maestro gives his take on the Test Championship final between India and Australia
The Test between India and Australia from June 7–11 at The Oval in London, England, has a special significance in the lengthy and storied history of these matches. In addition to determining the 2021–23 World Test Championship (WTC) champion, it will be the first time the ferocious rivals will face off at a neutral site. Ricky Ponting, a former captain of Australia, claims that Australia has an advantage due to the weather in England.
Ricky Ponting spoke to the ICC team about the upcoming Test Championship final and who he is backing to win the second edition. He said,
“I would have to say Australia (are the favourites). I am going more (with Australia) because of the conditions. If this game was played in India, I would say this was a really hard game for Australia to win. If this game was played in Australia, I would say Aussies are the heavy favourites. The fact that this game is being played in England probably brings both sides a little bit closer together. Having played at The Oval a fair bit, the conditions will be much more similar to an Australian pitch than an Indian wicket. Therefore, I am giving a slight advantage to Australia.”
However, the Indians will argue against that judgement. In addition to defeating the Australians at home between February and March, they also triumphed in the previous two Down Under series in 2018–19 and 2020–21.
The Delhi Capitals head coach did the head to head analysis of the two teams and why he felt that the Australian team is ahead of the Indian team. He said,
“There are two ways you can look at it. For someone like Virat, is he better off playing now and scoring runs on a consistent basis? Or are the Australian guys who are back home but mentally prepared better off? Is Shami in a better space skill-wise than Cummins who hasn’t played for a few months now? It’s a hard one. A lot of it comes down to the individual. I am sure if you ask Virat, he will say he would rather be scoring runs now. If you ask the fast bowlers, they will probably say that they will prefer to have a couple of weeks of rest. It works both ways.”
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