“For A Big Match…”: Sunil Gavaskar’s Counter To Ricky Ponting’s “Australia Will Be Favourites” Claim | Cricket News

Ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia, several experts, including former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, had suggested that the Pat Cummins-led side are favourites to win the summit clash. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri and Pakistan legend Wasim Akram had also echoed Ponting’s sentiments. To further back his claims, Ponting had suggested that the Indian players will be tired after a hectic IPL 2023 season, adding that the Australians will head into the fixture with a fresh mindset.

However, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar doesn’t feel that Australians resting ahead of the WTC Final would not give them any advantage.

Gavaskar, instead, gave the edge to India and pointed out the need for match practice, irrespective of the format, ahead of big matches.

“I will give the edge to India. I don’t agree with the fact that the conditions favour Australia. Neither is the fact that some of the Australians have been resting is going to be an advantage. For a big match, you need miles under your feet. And most of the Indian players have done that. Even one player who was not in the IPL, Pujara was playing County Cricket and was scoring centuries for fun. So yes, the Indians are in a better position,” Gavaskar told India Today.

India will play Australia in the World Test Championship Final 2023. The match will be hosted by The Oval starting 7 June.

As far as the forecast is concerned, the weather in London is expected to be sunny throughout the period of the Test match and the conditions could be suitable for batting.