Australia will be slightly favourites in WTC final: Wasim Akram

Former Pakistan international Wasim Akram believes that Australia are currently the favourite to win the World Test Championship. The 57-year-old stated that the pitch in the Oval will support the pacers and that might bother Indian batters in the middle. He also believes that the surface will offer much more bounce and thus, the Indian batting unit needs to be very cautious.

The ‘Sultan of Swing’, as he is popularly known, Akram reminded that the Duke ball eventually swings much more than Kookaburra. Notably, Indian batters have struggled a lot against swinging balls in the recent past and thus, it can be problematic for the Rohit Sharma-led side as the WTC final is set to begin on June 7.

“In Oval, you play a Test match either in the last week of August or during first or second week of September when the pitch is bone dry. But this time it's a fresh pitch and it's early June. There will be a lot more bounce. The Dukes swings a lot more and for longer time and stays a lot harder than Kookaburra. I think Australia will be slightly favourites,” Akram said at the ICC's 'Afternoon with Test Legends' event.

Shami might be key for India in WTC final: Ravi Shastri

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri believes that Mohammed Shami will be very important for team India in the WTC final. He also compared India’s bowling unit with that of Australia’s and eventually stated that match fitness can come into play, especially with Indian bowlers coming to the final straight after a marathon tournament.

“I would say if you look at pace attack, if Bumrah was there, I would say it was equal with an attack of Mohammed Shami, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. But that Aussie attack with Starc, Cummins, maybe the match fitness that will come into play. You need some cricket behind you and staying in the park for six hours for five days is different from bowling in nets for two hours every day. Shami might be key as he has been playing a lot of cricket,” Shastri stated in the same show.