Based on the conditions at The Oval and the makeup of both the sides, it will be safe to say that Australia are likely to have a slight edge over India at the World Test Championship (WTC) starting Wednesday. That is exactly what legendary Australia cricketer Ricky Ponting said when was asked to pick the winner of the second edition of WTC. India captain Rohit Sharma, however, has a different opinion. The Indian captain casually brushed aside Ponting's remarks as "his point of view" and added that it "doesn't matter" what the former cricketers and experts say before such a big match.
"That's his point of view. He's allowed to give his opinion. Only time will tell which team has used the conditions really well. You know, the people who are watching the game, the experts, they'll have their opinion, they'll talk a lot of things before the start of a championship like that, a build-up to the championship," Rohit said in the pre-match press conference in London on Tuesday when asked about Ponting's comments about The Oval likely to suit the Australians more.
Rohit said the side that handles the pressure and utilises the conditions well will come out on top. "Honestly - for us, it doesn't really matter because we know what is at stake and we need to focus on that. And that is what the team is going to do. Whoever uses the conditions really well, probably will win the game. As simple as that. And also handling the pressure during the course of this five days because there will be times where the teams will be under pressure in this five days so you just got to adapt and handle that pressure really well to come out on top," Rohit said.
The WTC final is generally played at a natural venue. The last time around, the final was played at Southampton. This time, it will be played at The Oval.
‘No need to talk to the players individually’: Rohit Sharma ahead of WTC final
{{/usCountry}}The WTC final is generally played at a natural venue. The last time around, the final was played at Southampton. This time, it will be played at The Oval.
‘No need to talk to the players individually’: Rohit Sharma ahead of WTC final
{{/usCountry}}India will be missing a few key players Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, and Shreyas Iyer but Rohit said the players in the current squad are good enough to handle pressure.
"Since the time we've come here, the talk has been around, how we can play well, what are the things we need to do as a team. A lot of the guys in our squad are quite experienced right now - and they have been in the situation where there was too much pressure and they've come out on top. So, you know, every individual at some stage of their career have faced that kind of pressure. So it's just putting themselves in those situations and thinking about it. Whoever takes the field tomorrow has or have gone through that kind of pressure before in their career. So I don't think I need to talk to them personally about how to handle those situations," he added.