WTC Final: Sunil Gavaskar Disagrees With Ricky Ponting, Lists How India Have The Advantage

Australia, led by Pat Cummins, start as slight favourites for the World Test Championship final. Former India head coach Ravi Shastri, Ricky Ponting, and Wasim Akram have all given a slight advantage to the top-ranked Test team. The Pat Cummins-led side will face off against Team India at The Oval starting today, June 7. But, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar does not feel that Australia have the upper hand. He thinks India has the edge and even has a counter to Ponting’s assertion about the impact of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on the Indian team.

Ricky Ponting supported Australia for the WTC final, suggesting that the Indian players may be fatigued after the strenuous IPL 2023 season, while the Australians come in fresh with fewer participants in the T20 tournament. The former Australia captain also argued that the Indian players have been actively participating in competitive cricket in the IPL, whereas some Australians have had a break from the game. Ponting questioned whether it was better for a team to enter a crucial fixture without any recent match practice or slightly worn out from the IPL, having played a lot of cricket leading up to the final.

Expressing his views on the eve of the final in an interview with India Today, Gavaskar refuted Ponting’s claim. Gavaska also countered the former Australia skipper’s remark about the Indian team’s need for match practice, regardless of the format, before important games.

Gavaskar asserted that he gave the edge to India and disagreed with the notion that the conditions at The Oval favour Australia. He believed that resting some Australian players would not be advantageous because performing well in a significant match required substantial playing experience.

“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 (Indian Premier League), Pujara was playing County Cricket and was scoring centuries for fun. So yes, the Indians are in a better position,” he said.