Sachin Tendulkar: Australia has always been competitive and whether they have a full squad or not
The Indian legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar said that India would be a confident team coming into the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia on Wednesday because of the spin-friendly nature of the Oval pitch.
The Indian legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar said that India would be a confident team coming into the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia on Wednesday because of the spin-friendly nature of the Oval pitch. With R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as their two excellent spinner options, Tendulkar feels the squad can draw a lot of encouragement from the pitch factor.
“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,”
he said.
“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 can get that drift, they can make the ball talk in the air without the pitch coming into play. So, Oval is going to be a good venue for India,”
said Tendulkar on his website 100mbsports.
India will also carry a positive vibe when they arrive at the Oval because their previous game there ended in a decisive victory—a 157-run blowout against England in 2021. Tendulkar said good memories of that match will burn bright and will spur the Indians.
“100 percent. 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,”
said Tendulkar on his website 100mbsports.
Similar to how England defeated Australia by 135 runs in the 2019 Ashes Test here, and Tendulkar said they might just be hurting a bit. However, the legendary batter said that the Australians may be a very competitive team.
“Bruises take some time to heal. But Australia is a beautiful team as they have a balanced squad. Some guys have been around for a long time now and some young faces as well.
“It is a nice blend of youth and experience. Australia has always been competitive and whether they have a full squad or not, once they cross that rope they are going to be very competitive,”
said Tendulkar.
Tendulkar said the extensive County stint that Cheteshwar Pujara and Marnus Labuschagne recently had will be beneficial to their teams in the championship game.
“Of course, playing in County cricket can be of great value. Both Pujara and Labuschagne had a 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.