The stage is all set for World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final, with both India and Australia ready to lock horns in the much-anticipated clash that begins from June 7 at the Kennington Oval in London. Notably, this will be India’s second appearance in the summit clash of the WTC, as they were the runner-ups of the inaugural edition of the event under Virat Kohli‘s captaincy.
Although Virat is no more the skipper of the Indian team, there is no denial of the fact that he’s still a key player of the side due to his exceptional skillset. The former India captain has 8416 runs to his name in 108 Test matches, with 28 centuries so far.
Speaking of Virat’s performance against Australia, the 34-year-old cricketer loves scoring runs against the Aussies in the longest format of the game. The right-handed batter has hammered 1979 runs against the Australian team at an average of 48.26, including eight centuries in just 24 matches.
Based on the standards Virat has set across formats, he will surely pose a serious threat to Australia in the WTC 2023 Final. The same was admitted by the Aussie cricketers in their recent interview with International Cricket Council (ICC), where they also described Virat in one word and heaped praises on the Delhi-born cricketer.
While Cameron Green hailed Virat as the ‘Man of India, Warner praised the 2011 World Cup winner for his unbelievable cover drive. Marnus Labuschagne commended Virat as well and described him as an all-time great.
On the other hand, Usman Khawaja termed Virat ‘competitive’, with Mitchell Starc acknowledging the former India skipper as very skilful and the backbone of the Indian middle order.
Australian skipper Pat Cummins and batter Steve Smith also joined their teammates. Cummins termed Virat a good player, whereas Smith hailed him as a superstar.
“He’s been a superstar for a long time, loves playing against Australia, often scores runs against us, but hopefully we can keep him quiet this week,” said Smith.
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