WTC Final: Ricky Ponting reveals chat with Virat Kohli

Ricky Ponting has said that wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan could be the ‘X’ factor for India in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia. The former Australia captain also revealed the details of a recent chat he had with Virat Kohli.

Ishan Kishan was added to the India squad for the match after KL Rahul was ruled out due to a thigh injury suffered during IPL 2023.

The WTC final will be played at The Oval in England from 7 June.

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Ponting feels that Kishan could add the X-factor to India’s lineup in the absence of maverick Rishabh Pant who is still recovering from the car crash he suffered in December last year. The Australian great added that if India play Kishan or Suryakumar Yadav who is part of the reserves then the team must play an aggressive brand of cricket as it’s their best chance to win the WTC title.

“There is another X-factor that has just been added in Ishan Kishan. If you look at the way he plays, he is probably the most like Rishabh Pant with his potential to keep and bat in the middle order,” Ponting was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.

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“If they do play those guys they should be given the right to play an aggressive brand of cricket.

“The best chance for India to achieve a result is by being a bit more adventurous in the way they play and Australia will try to do the same thing.”

Apart from Rahul, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah will also miss the final.

India top-order vs Australia pacers

Talking about the WTC final, Ponting added that contest will be centered around the battle between India’s top-order and Australia’s pace attack.

“I think it’ll be India’s top order against Australia’s fast bowling, It’s a bit of a mouth-watering thought going forward.

“Generally, we think about the battles between India’s spinners and Australia’s batters. But will that be negated by the wicket at The Oval? Normally the wickets that I’ve played on The Oval have started as really good batting wickets, and actually have offered a little bit to the spinners as the game’s going on.

“That’s what I’d like to see in this wicket – to have a really good contest on day four, day five, or maybe even day six, seeing how it’s going.”

Kohli chat revealed

Talking about Kohli, Ponting shared that the star India batter told him recently that “he’s almost back to his absolute best” and would be the “prize wicket” for the Australians.

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“I caught up with Virat about a month ago when we played them in Bangalore,” said Ponting. “And I had a good chat to him about his batting and where he was at and his career. And he said to me then that he actually feels like he’s almost back to his absolute best.

“You probably saw that last night, you know, he’s had a very good IPL and I’m sure he’ll be the prize wicket that all the Australians are looking are looking forward to.”

IPL’s impact on WTC final

Most of the Indian players from the WTC finals quad are part of the ongoing IPL 2023 while only three Australians are participating in the tournament.

Ponting opined that it works both ways and there’s no advantage either way.

“There are two ways you can look at it,” Ponting said. “For someone like Virat (Kohli) – is he better off playing now and scoring runs at a consistent basis, and have confidence going into a game? Rather than being the Australian guys that have been back home, haven’t been playing much cricket, will be mentally better prepared, but haven’t got the runs and cricket under their belt …

“Is Mohammad Shami going to be in a better (position) skill-wise than what Pat Cummins is? Cummins hasn’t played any cricket for a few months now. It’s a hard one. A lot of it comes down to the individual.

“The Indian players that are here playing in the IPL won’t only be thinking about the IPL. They’ll be on workload management stuff to make sure that they’re right to bowl in a Test match in a couple of weeks’ time.

“There’s two ways to look at it – I’m not sure there’s a right or wrong. What the Australian players have done though, you know, with Steve Smith and (Marnus) Labuschange being in England there, getting used to the conditions the best they can – they’re giving themselves the best chance. Michael Nesser and Sean Abbott are also over there, bowling, making sure they’re ready in case there’s an injury to any of the Australian fast bowlers.

“I don’t think there’s an advantage either way, to be honest. But I’m sure if you ask Virat what he’d rather be doing, he’d say he’d rather be scoring runs now. If you ask the fast bowlers they’d probably say that they’d probably prefer to have a couple of weeks rest. It works both ways.”

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