Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has sounded Virat Kohli named warning bell for the Australian team ahead of their ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023) final against India. He also said that Australian players will prize his wicket the most in the upcoming summit clash in Oval, England on June 7.
Ricky Ponting said the same during a function organized by the ICC in Delhi on May 19 where he unveiled the Test Mace, the prized trophy for which India and Australia will fight. The 48-year-old said that he was enthusiastic about the match-ups involving some of the greatest in the industry, and about the idea of watching high-quality Test cricket.
One of the players Ponting was talking about was Virat Kohli and the Aussie great said that the former India captain told him that he was nearing his absolute best once again when they chatted during an IPL match between Delhi Capitals and the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
“I caught up with Virat about a month ago when we played them in Bangalore. And I had a good chat with 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 forward to,” Ponting was quoted by ICC.
India will be missing some key players for The Ultimate Test – Rishabh Pant is a long-term absentee, KL Rahul was ruled out of the Final after sustaining an injury in the IPL, and Jasprit Bumrah is continuing his rehabilitation from a back problem.
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“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,” he said.
There has been discussion on how India's WTC team, as opposed to just four from Australia, participated in the IPL in the run-up to the Test and how that would impact their preparations for the Match.
But Ponting believes there are advantages with both approaches.
"There are two ways you can look at it. For someone like Virat (Kohli) – is he better off playing now and scoring runs at a consistent basis, and having 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.
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,” Ponting said.
“There are 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,” Ponting signed off.
The ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final will be played at The Oval, starting June 7.
(ICC inputs)
