Former Pakistani fast bowler Wasim Akram is inching in favour of Australia ahead of the World Test Championship Final starting from June 7. India is playing back-to-back WTC Finals having lost out to New Zealand in the inaugural season.
“Australia is slightly favourites, however, it depends on weather as well, and I think weather will be excellent, like the way it is, the toss is also crucial and pitch also matters but Australia are slightly favourites” the former Pakistani player was quoted as saying by news agency ANI,
Akram also heaped praise on Australia’s left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc, drawing comparisons with Pakistan’s Shaheen Afridi. The former Pakistan captain advised Starc not to drop his pace in the WTC final against India, saying pace is crucial in Test matches while variations play a big role in T20 matches.
India and Australia will play the WTC final at the iconic Oval in London from 7 June. In terms of the head-to-head record, the two teams have played 106 Tests against each other. Australia have won 44 of these Tests while India have won 32, drawn 29 and drawn 1.
However, India have an impressive Test record against Australia in recent times, having beaten the Kangaroos on their home soil in two successive Border-Gavaskar Trophies. India also have an impressive record overseas in recent times, with the men in blue drawing their last series in England.
Meanwhile, Australia will also miss their star bowler Josh Hazlewood who was ruled out of the WTC Final on Sunday owing to an issue in the left Achilles along with the left side arm.
Indian squad for the WTC Final: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat and Ishan Kishan (wk).
Australia’s squad for WTC Final: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David WarnerStandby players: Mitch Marsh, Matthew Renshaw.
(With inputs from ANI)
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Updated: 05 Jun 2023, 09:46 AM IST
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