In the long and illustrious history of India-Australia contests, the Test at The Oval in London, England, from June 7-11 assumes unique importance. Besides deciding the winner of the 2021-23 World Test Championship (WTC), it’s the first time that the fierce rivals will be pitted against each other at a neutral venue. According to former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, the conditions in England give Australia the edge.
“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,” Ponting told reporters during an interaction organised by International Cricket Council (ICC) here on Friday. “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.”
The Indians will contest that assessment though. They not only defeated the Aussies at home in February-March but also won the last two series Down Under in 2018-19 and 2020-21.
With the 16th edition of the IPL nearing its end, the players involved in the WTC final will begin to have an eye on the marquee contest. Another talking point as we inch closer to the build-up will be the effect that a taxing IPL season has had on the players. This is particularly relevant for India of course — 14 of their 15-member squad are involved in the IPL. In contrast, just three players in Australia’s Test squad have IPL commitments.
“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,” said the 48-year-old, who is currently coach of Delhi Capitals in IPL.
