Team India are all set to face Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11.
Over the years, the venue is known for producing good batting wickets and it also assists the spinners as the game progresses.
Hence, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar believes that the conditions will instill confidence in the Indian team with the presence of two exceptional spinners, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, in their ranks.
"The Indian team will be happy that they are playing at the Oval. The nature of the Oval pitch is such that it assists the spinners as the match goes on. So, spinners will come into play a little bit.
"It need not be always a turning track as sometimes the spinners rely a lot on the bounce, sometimes that little bit of zip that they get off the pitch, also on the overhead conditions and it depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball.
"If they are able to get that drift, they can make the ball talk in the air without the pitch coming into play. So, Oval is going to be good venue for India," said Tendulkar in his website 100mbsports.
During the tour of England in 2021, India won the Oval Test by 157 runs and Tendulkar said good memories of that match will spur the Rohit Sharma-led side.
"100 per cent. Whenever you have such memories, they will stay with you. The Indian team would not have forgotten that the last time they played there (the Oval), they had a superb outing. They won the game and as I said good memories stay long with you," he remarked.
On the other hand, Australia were at the receiving end of a 135-run defeat at the same venue during the 2019 Ashes series.
"Bruises take some time to heal. But Australia is a beautiful team as they have a balanced squad. There are guys who have been around for a long time now and some young faces as well. It is a nice blend of youth and experience. Australia have always been competitive and whether they have a full squad or not, once they cross that rope they are going to be very competitive," the batting maestro stated.
Tendulkar also opined that Cheteshwar Pujara and Marnus Labuschagne’s extended County stint augurs well for their respective teams.
"Of course, playing in County cricket can be of great value. Both Pujara and Labuschagne had considerable outing in the County cricket recently. Smith not as much as the other two, but whatever match practice one can get is very handy because the conditions are different.
"Our guys have played T20 and now they have gone to England, so are some players from Australia as they were playing T20 here but I believe playing practice matches... no better practice than that," he said.
(With PTI Inputs)
