New Delhi, May 28 () Australia great Mike Hussey believes the collective experience of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will play a pivotal role in determining India’s success in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship final against Australia, scheduled to be held from June 7 at The Oval.
Hussey, who was among England’s coaching setup during last year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup title and is currently a batting coach of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, thinks Kohli and Rohit must use their vast experience of batting in England to their advantage if India are to prevail against Australia.
“It’s hard to see past Virat Kohli. He is obviously coming back into some great form again in all forms of the game really, so both he and Rohit Sharma with the bat are going to be important for India,” Hussey was quoted as saying by ICC.
India regained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with an emphatic 2-1 victory over Australia in the four-match Test series on home soil, but Hussey knows conditions will be vastly different in London with fast bowling expected to be of more importance than the spin-friendly tracks, which both sides experienced in the sub-continent.
The Australian thinks Indian pacers can make a difference at The Oval, but Australia’s quality pacers that include skipper Pat Cummins and experienced left-armer Mitchell Starc will prove difficult to handle.
“It is going to be played in England, so English conditions will be different to the recent series in India, so I think the fast bowlers are going to be important,” Hussey noted.
“Pat Cummins (is a key for Australia) and Josh Hazlewood might be fit again which would be nice for Australia. But India have got so many great bowlers as well. You’ve got (Mohammed) Siraj and (Mohammed) Shami and obviously the spinners with (Ravindra) Jadeja and (Ravichandran) Ashwin as well.
“It’s a world-class attack and the Aussies are going to have to be at their best to beat them.”
Asked about which team would come out on top and lift the prestigious World Test Championship mace, Hussey expressed his hope for an evenly contested match between the two formidable sides.
“I just want to see two great teams go head-to-head and see who comes out on top. We just want to see good, hard, fair cricket and whoever comes out on top deserves to. And it should be a fantastic match,” Hussey said.
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