The excitement levels of the World Test Championship (WTC) finals know no bounds. India will be squaring off with Australia in the high-voltage WTC finals and it promises to be an absolute crackerjack of a contest.
Ahead of the finals, former Australian legendary captain and player Ricky Ponting has asked Australia to make plans for two Indian cricketers and warned them about one player in particular.
“The Australian team will be talking about Virat, no doubt about it, and they’ll be talking about Pujara. They’re the two,” said Ricky Ponting on the ICC Review.
“Pujara has been a thorn in their side a lot in the past, and in Australia, and this wicket (at The Oval) will potentially be a lot more like an Australian pitch. They know that they’ll have to get him early,” he added.
Cheteshwar Pujara is a rock-solid batter of India and plays at number 3. In 102 Test matches for India, Pujara has scored 7154 runs and has a highest score of 206* runs.
Ricky Ponting, who has scored 13,000 plus runs in the Test as well as the ODI formats in international cricket, has also flashed a warning to the Australian cricket team about Virat Kohli.
“They also know that Virat, over the last few weeks, is probably just about back to his absolute best, albeit in T20 cricket. He told me that the feeling he’s getting right now is that he’s almost back to his best, and that’s an ominous warning for the Australians going into a one-off game,” said Ricky Ponting.
Virat Kohli had a stellar IPL 2023
Playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Virat Kohli had an exceptional Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 performance. The 34-year-old star batter mustered 639 runs in 14 games and finished as the 4th highest run-getter in the tournament.
Kohli smashed two back-to-back centuries in the final two games of RCB and was a thorn in the plans of other teams. He would be hoping to continue that imperious form onto the WTC finals well. It goes without saying that Virat Kohli is India’s best bet in the upcoming WTC finals.
He has played 108 Test matches for India and has amassed 8416 runs at a scintillating average of 48.9. With 28 hundreds and 28 fifties under his belt, Virat Kohli is one of the legendary batters of Team India.
If Australia are to pose as a serious contender for the prized WTC final trophy, then they need to dismiss Virat Kohli early. Otherwise, it will be all doom and gloom for the Australians.
Also read: WTC Finals: Axar Patel Gives Massive Statement on Preparations Of Team India
