Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting feels Ishan Kishan might turn out to be the X-factor India need in the World Test Championship Final in the absence of Rishabh Pant. India included Ishan in the WTC Final squad as a replacement for KL Rahul. The mega clash between India and Australia will be played from June 7 at the Oval, London.
Ponting feels that India missed the trick by not picking Suryakumar Yadav in the squad but the inclusion of Ishan might allow them to fill the void of Pant’s absence in the middle-order.
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“But there is another X factor that has just been added in Ishan Kishan. If you look at the way he plays, he is probably like Rishabh Pant with his potential to keep and bat in the middle order. If they do play those guys they should be given the right to play an aggressive brand of cricket,” Ponting said in an event organised by the International Cricket Council ahead of the WTC final.
While Ponting suggested that India should try to be a bit adventurous with their approach to stun Australia in the mega encounter.
“The best chance for India to achieve a result is by being a bit more adventurous in the way they play and Australia will try to do the same thing,” he added.
India will miss some of their key players in the WTC final as KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah are recovering from their respective injuries.
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Ponting feels that India have to take a tough call to pick their wicketkeeper batter.
“With the injury issues India have got, they can go with few different ways especially in batting. Before Rahul’s injury, I had him in the eleven, now that he is not there, they need to pick Ishan or KS Bharat,” said the three-time ODI World Cup winner.
Talking about the neutral venue for the final, Ponting suggested that the Oval wicket might give Australia an edge over Rohit Sharma and Co.
“If this game was played in India, I would have said it would be really hard for Australia to win. If this game was played in Australia I would say Australia will be favourites but in England, it brings the teams together.
“We don’t know what the conditions will be like. Having played at the Oval I think conditions will be much similar to an Australian wicket compared to an Indian wicket, therefore giving a slight advantage to Australia.”
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