From Ponting to Ravi Shastri; Here's what the cricket legends have predicted for WTC final

With the WTC final about to begin in a few hours, the prediction game is at large. As both teams are equally strong, the odds are hanging in balance. However, the guessing game is prevalent among the knowers of the game, and upon considering many factors that could come into play, individuals are predicting the side that will go on to become the new World Test Champions.

A number of experts have delivered their entries when it comes to predicting the winner. From Ravi Shastri to Ricky Ponting, all have given their say ahead of India vs Australia clash. Here's what the legends predicted.

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Ricky Ponting- Australia

“Australia are just favourites,” Ponting said. “India have got a couple of little uncertain areas in their team I think in terms of how selection and injuries are concerned. With KL Rahul not being there, (Jasprit) Bumrah obviously not being there, Umesh Yadav’s had a bit of an injury cloud over his head, which keeper do they want to take – do they go with Ishan Kishan of KS Bharat?

Ricky Ponting further added that Australian squad looks more settled as compared to team Indian for WTC final.

“I think Australia are going to be a lot more settled and then when you think about conditions here as well, these early June conditions probably more like Australian conditions than they are Indian conditions. But saying that we all know how well India played in Australia last time they were there, so I just think on the back of their work that they’ve done, Australia I think start narrow favourites.” Source ICC.

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Ravi Shastri-  Whoever will draw first blood

“In a one-off game it’s not easy,” Shastri said.

“When I see current form, both of these teams have not played the longer duration of the game for quite some time. India have played a lot of T20 cricket, Australia on the other hand – barring (Steve) Smith and (Marnus) Labuschagne who played a bit of country cricket – haven’t played for the longer periods of time.

“I think the first punch will count on day one. I think Pat Cummins will be charged up for Australia, and I think Mohammed Shami for India (will be key)." Source ICC.

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Wasim Akram- Australia

“Both teams have shown in the last two years they are the best in the world, hence they are in the final,” Wasim said.

“This pitch usually favours teams from the sub-continent, but whenever we toured here... we played our last Test match here at the end of August or the first week of September. But this is happening first week of June, so the square is different, fresh square and the ball is different all together as a Dukes."

“So I think going into this Test match Australia are slightly favourites, although (Josh) Hazlewood is out and he would have been very handy on this pitch. And India has a great record against Australia in the last couple of years, they just won the home series 2-1, so it’ll be a very close game, and that’s the beauty of this World Test Championship. I’m so kind of disappointed, it’s too late now – in our time there wasn’t anything like this, imagine playing to be the best team in the world.

“Australia are slightly favourites going into the game, but there are a lot of factors – the weather, the pitch, the Dukes ball. Every session is important; one session maybe Australia will win and India will come back hard in the next one, that’s the beauty of Test cricket.” Source ICC.

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Ross Taylor - Australia

“Whoever wins the toss, it’ll be interesting to see how much grass they do leave on the wicket. India like to play two spinners so if they can bowl last on it you never know," Taylor said.

“But I think Australia play here a lot in the Ashes series, and losing Bumrah is a massive loss for India. So I think the toss will play a part, but the early prediction I’d say just slightly in favour of Australia probably because of the injuries that India have but also because of the experience that Australia have in playing over here.” Source ICC.

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Ian Bell- The team that will bat better

“The forecast is pretty good, a lot of sun for the week, so you’d expect it to be a pretty good wicket to bat on, certainly in the early stages of the game, maybe take a bit of spin at the back end. It’ll be a fascinating contest, but I expect to see a really good wicket and an interesting five days," he said.

“It’ll be fascinating to see how both teams go about it. We know there’s two world-class bowling attacks going at each other, it’ll be how many runs you can score. That’s the thing in England - if you can go big you can put a lot of pressure on people at the back end. So I think the batting units are the ones to keep an eye on.” Source ICC.

AB de Villiers- India

"Very difficult to say who are the favorites. Both teams have not been playing a lot of Test cricket of late but what I can say is that India in their last Test match at the Oval have got a win against this very strong England team. They will be taking a bit of confidence from that."

The former South African skipper added: "I think India will come out on top on day five of the Test match. I think it might go all the way. It's a good wicket to bat on but I think the Indian spinners will come into play in the latter stages of the Test match." Source JioCinema.

Nasser Hussain- India

“I think India, as they showed in Australia, can win in any conditions. It helps with the balance of their side if the weather is good and if the sun shines at The Oval, that they can go with their formula of two spinners, two seamers, and have (Shardul) Thakur as your third seamer." Source ICC.

The WTC final is set to be played from June 7, 2023 at the Oval, London, England and the match is scheduled to take place from 2:30 PM IST.