Ahead of the much-awaited WTC 2023 final game, Australian batter Steve Smith he expects the Indian attack to pose a stiff challenge irrespective of the combination they go with.
Steve Smith on Indian Bowling Unit
India named 5 pacers in their squad for the WTC 2023 final. Though India won’t fill the bowlers’ options with them, they will prepare a descent mix-up with the spinners. In their recent to India, Aussies’ preparations revolved around Ashwin and Jadeja but now they also need to be wary of Mohammed Siraj and Shami.
“I think they’ve got a good mix obviously of quality seam bowlers. Shami and Siraj, probably their two main guys who have really good skills and I think the Dukes ball suits them nicely. And then obviously their spinners as well, who bowl really well in all conditions. So, I think they’re a good attack and yeah, we’re going to have to play well against them this week,” he said.
Steve Smith has been part of the ODI and T20 World Cup-winning Australian teams but unlike those events, the WTC final is a one-off game in a two-year cycle.
Asked if he feels the same as he did while playing the big finals in the shorter formats, he said: “I haven’t thought too much about it in that aspect. It’s obviously been a good couple of years of Test cricket and to play in a final of the World Test Championship is pretty special.
“But yeah, I don’t know, until we sort of go out there and get started, I don’t know how it’ll feel. But it’s been a good build up the last few days. We’ve had some good days training down in Beckenham and we get to have a hit at the Oval today and tomorrow.”
It is the first time that a Test has been scheduled at The Oval in June and the venue has been hosting games since 1880. The pitch wore a greenish look on Monday but the grass will be trimmed going into day one.
“Yeah, I haven’t had a look at the surface yet, so I probably can’t say too much, but you’re right, usually back into the summer it’s a bit drier. Some spin can come into play, particularly as the game goes on. So, yeah, we’ll wait and see what the surface looks like,” said Smith.
WTC 2023 Final India Squad
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper).
Standby Player: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav.
WTC 2023 Final Australia Squad
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (sub-captain) Captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Standby Player: Mitchell Marsh, Matthew Renshaw.
