Sunil Gavaskar, the former Indian cricketer, has predicted that India will outperform Australia in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final. He believes that India’s strong batting lineup can destroy Australia’s bowling attack, and that if India bats first and scores a significant total in the first two days, they may not even need to bat in the second innings.
Gavaskar is confident in India’s ability to out-bat Australia, given their batting depth, including Ravichandran Ashwin, who has five Test hundreds to his name.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a 15-member squad for the summit clash, and despite the altered circumstances, India must be high on confidence after defeating Australia in a home series earlier this year. In that series, India won two out of the four Test matches, with Australia winning one, and the last match ending in a draw. The Indian team is likely to rely on their lower-order batsmen, including Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, to repeat their performance against Australia.
The WTC final is scheduled to be held at The Oval from June 7 to 11, and Gavaskar suggested that players from teams that do not qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs should reach England early to adjust to the conditions.
“I’m backing India to out-bat Australia because if you look at the Indian batting lineup, at number 8 we have Ashwin who has five Test hundreds and the Oval is generally a very good pitch to bat on. You win the toss, put up a big score on the first two days, then you don’t have to bat in the second innings,” stated Gavaskar while speaking to Star Sports, the official broadcaster of IPL 2023.
“I know the IPL finishes on May 28, and the Test starts on June 7. I’d like to see those players from the teams who haven’t qualified to go to England a bit earlier, maybe even play against club sides. It will help them adjust to the conditions,” added Gavaskar.
