Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting feels that the India team needs to find a way to play Shubman Gill and KL Rahul in his playing XI if they reach the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The high-octane clash is scheduled to be played in June later this year.
Rahul was dropped from the squad after the first two Tests against Australia and chose Gill for the third Test in Indore. However, Ponting emphasized how different the conditions will be for the WTC final compared to India and shed light on how good Rahul’s record has been in England.
KL Rahul already has two test centuries in England, so Ricky Ponting wants India to play him and Shubman Gill in those conditions. This is what he said in the ICC Review:
“Maybe Shubman could start at the top and KL could potentially move towards the middle order, because he’s played cricket in those (English) conditions before, albeit at the top of the order.
“But one thing we know about the UK is that the ball wobbles for long periods of time during the day. And if the overhead conditions are right, then the ball tends to wobble correctly during a tackle.”
Ricky Ponting on the importance of choosing a team based on conditions
Ricky Ponting also opined that since the weather in England is always a factor, both teams will need to choose their eleven depending on the conditions. While he agreed that The Oval is one of the best batting grounds in England, Ponting also spoke about how general conditions could change the situation.
“Because it’s just a one-off test match, it’s going to be very important to pick the team that you think will be most successful in those conditions,” he said. “The Oval can be a very, very good place to bat whenever the sun is out, it’s probably as good a wicket as any in the UK.
“So I think that’s what it would come down to for India. It would just come down to assessing the conditions and then maybe forget about this last series that just played.”
India will confirm its place in the WTC final by beating Australia in the fourth round in Ahmedabad, which starts on Thursday 9 March.