Last Update: June 05, 2023, 13:16 IST
Rohit Sharma will be hoping to win his maiden ICC title as India captain. (Pic credit: IG/Indiancricket)
India’s squad for the WTC final has three spinners including Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Akshar Patel.
A Test match at The Oval in the month of June. This adds a layer of mystery as the venue will host a Test match during this month for the first time in its history and hence, the kind of pitch that will be provided for the ICC World Test Championship final starting in June. Very interested in 7.
India and Australia will decide their playing XI depending on whether it is a flat wicket or one that provides pace and bounce. Both the teams have quality options to choose from but the final combination will depend on the nature of the pitch.
While the pitch remains a mystery, former England spinner Monty Panesar believes Rohit Sharma-led India would be better off playing with two specialist spinners as he predicted The Oval to be a flat surface.
“It is a pitch in England where you play two spinners,” Panesar told the news agency. PTI, He said, ‘If the ball takes turn, there is also bounce for the spinners. I think the wicket will be flat. In these circumstances, it would be appropriate for India to feed two spinners. We have already seen Australia struggle against spinners, especially from India.”
“The weather has warmed up and we are seeing the ball turning in some of the T20 Blast matches in London as well. I don’t even see them keeping grass because they want the match to last for at least four days.”
Panesar, himself a left-arm spinner, played 50 Tests for England between 2006 and 2013, taking 167 wickets, including 12 five-wicket hauls.
The 41-year-old picked India as the stronger of the two WTC finalists and advised them to pick Umesh Yadav as the third pacer alongside Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.
He said, ‘It will also be interesting to see who will be the fast bowlers because they also have a lot of options. In my opinion India is the strongest side on all fronts. Since he will get additional batting options with Ashwin and Jadeja, I would go with Umesh as the third pacer. He is the person to whom Rohit can go and say ‘I want you to bowl five overs at 140 plus and trouble the Australian batsmen’. You will need that extra pace,” Panesar said.
He also believes that reverse swing will play a key role and India have the game to lose. He said, ‘The ball reverses at The Oval and we have seen how good Indian bowlers are when it comes to reverse swing. He can move the ball more than the Australian fast bowlers. It is for India to lose this game. They have everything going for them and they just need to perform according to their skills,” Panesar said.
