Australia and India are all set to have a crack at each other in the final of the World Test Championship 2023 as two cricket giants fight for the ultimate glory in Test cricket. Australia have qualified for a WTC final for the first time after narrowly missing in the inaugural edition of 2019-2021. They now have Rohit Sharma's India ahead of them in the showdown clash at a neutral venue in England.
But as these two rivals gear up for the clash, there is a big question around that is Australia rusty and are short of game time ahead of the final. Australia have not played a single International game since they toured India for the Border Gavaskar series in February and March 2023. Both the final opponents are also not playing a practice match ahead of the showdown clash and are only doing training. Notably, Indian players are coming after an intense two months of T20 cricket.
Aussie skipper Pat Cummins was asked about the lack of game time and he put light on it. During an ICC event, 'Afternoon with Test Legends' Cummins opened on the lack of game time for Australia coming into the marquee clash. "Breaks are rare to come by. "I have always said, with six Test matches (including five in the Ashes), it is better to be slightly underdone than overdone. I am talking from a Bower's point of view. So I want to be physically fresh," Cummins said in the event which was also attended by Indian captain Rohit Sharma, New Zealand's Ross Taylor and England's Ian Bell.
Cummins also stated that they did a lot of training at home. Back home, we did a lot of training. We have trained hard, rejuvenated and refreshed and are keen," Cummins brushed aside talks of rustiness.
The Aussie captain has also highlighted what he looks forward to in the final. "You need to know your moments to push for wickets. We need to get 20 wickets and there is no point trying everything in the first innings. We have plenty of bowlers to be used at different times," Cummins said.
"Our playing group hasn't played too many of those 50 Tests. We have played few Ashes games, most of us. Few guys have scored runs and bowlers have had some pace and bounce. So it should be good," he added.
