Rohit Sharma responds to Ricky Ponting’s statement “English conditions will favour Australia” ahead of ICC WTC final
Karan Rawat
Rohit Sharma and his men thrashed Australia 3-1 at home in the BGT series to qualify for the ICC WTC Final 2023.
India and Australia became the two teams to finish the World Test Championship 2023 table in the top two positions, which helped them qualify for the final. The marquee clash is scheduled to take place between June 7 and 11 at the Oval. It will be an exciting contest between two teams at a neutral venue. In fact, the ICC also confirmed that the final will be played with Duke balls, which are totally different from India’s SG balls and Australia’s Kookaburra balls.
Thus, it will be a challenge for Rohit Sharma and his men to get the monkey off their backs and register their first ICC title win in this decade. But the Indians will be aware about the fact that they don’t have the kind of success in England that can give them much hope. However, India dominated Australia at home and registered a 3-1 Border-Gavaskar series win. But these are alien conditions in England, where the ball can swing even through the entire day.
Rohit Sharma reacts to Ricky Ponting’s statement that “English conditions will favor Australia” in WTC Final 2023
On the eve of the WTC final, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma addressed the media and talked about India’s preparation to tackle the Australian attack in English conditions. Many former cricketers believe that Australia has a better bowling attack that is best suited for the playing conditions in England.
Former legendary Australian captain Ricky Ponting also made the claim that Australia might be the favorites going into the final because the English conditions are similar to those at home. “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,” said Ponting last month.
However, when asked about Ponting’s statement, Rohit had a clear response to it. The Indian captain said that no one can predict how the conditions will be or whom they will favor because it depends on which team will use them better. Rohit also pointed out that everyone who is sitting outside can have a different view, and it doesn’t matter for the team.
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He added, “People who are watching the game, the experts, they’ll have their opinion. But honestly – for us, it doesn’t really matter. Whoever uses the conditions really well, probably will win the game. As simple as that. And also handling the pressure during the course of this five days because there will be times where the teams will be under pressure in this five days so you just got to adapt and handle that pressure really well to come out on top.“
However, it will not be easy for Australia as well because India has an in-form bowling attack and better spinners. If the game goes to the fourth and fifth days, the spinners will come into play.
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