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Dravid's blockbuster reaction after Shastri, Ponting, Akram pick Australia as 'slight favourites' for WTC final
A victory could be India's first-ever ICC trophy win since lifting the Champions Trophy title under the leadership of MS Dhoni in 2013.
No matter the format or the tournament, Team India always enters as heavy favourites. And in Test cricket, where the team has been a dominant force for over a decade now, both at home and on overseas soil, there should be just one answer to who stands favourites in the World Test Championship final between India and Australia. Yet, legendary cricketers Ravi Shastri, Ricky Ponting and Wasim Akram have all hailed Australia as the “slight favourites”. India head coach Rahul Dravid, who addressed the media on Monday in London, gave a blockbuster response to the discussion.
When Shastri was asked on Sunday during his conversation with Star Sports, the former India coach admitted that with Jasprit Bumrah absent, Australia stand favourites on paper. Ponting sided with his country as well explaining that Indian players will be a tad bit tired after the IPL 2023 season compared to their Aussie counterparts who head to the contest with a fresh mind. Akram picked the Aussies as well.
On Monday, two days before the final, Dravid was made aware of the experts' opinion and asked if the lack of hype might work in India's favour. The veteran batter shrugged off the “favourites” discussion and expressed confidence in the Rohit Sharma-led side to emerge as champions.
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"Whatever happens, it will happen over the next 5 days. Whatever happens before that, whatever is being said before and after doesn't matter. Who is favourite, who is not... these are two good teams who are playing. Both teams have some good players. I have very good hope that if we play good cricket, if we can take 20 wickets and score runs, I have confidence that we can win this. Probably, not having hype is a good thing," he said.
A victory could be India's first-ever ICC trophy win since lifting the Champions Trophy title under the leadership of MS Dhoni in 2013. While it will be India's second attempt at the WTC title after having failed in the inaugural season when they lost to New Zealand in the 2021 final, Dravid admitted that the ICC trophy drought does not put additional pressure on the side.
"Not at all, we don't feel any pressure in terms of trying to win an ICC trophy. Of course, it would be nice to do it. Nice to be able to win an ICC tournament," Dravid said.
"But also, in the context of things, you look at this and you see this is the culmination of 2 years of work, the culmination of a lot of success that gets you here. There are a lot of positives to take from that, see where you stand in the table, winning series in Australia, drawing series here. Being very competitive, this team has played in the world over in the last 5-6 years. Those are things that will never change, just because, you don't have an ICC trophy. That's really the bigger picture," he added.
