Cheteshwar Pujara, Marnus Labuschagne's County experience will be of great value ahead of WTC Final, says Sachin Tendulkar

Legendary India batter Sachin Tendulkar reckons that Marnus Labuschagne and Cheteshwar Pujara might be sure shot contributors for their teams in the World Test Championship 2023 Final. Before Australia and India's summit match-up, Labuschagne, and Pujara have been playing in the county setup, which Sachin considers might be extremely beneficial for both sides.

Australia's Steve Smith also got involved in County set-up for some time to gain much-needed match practice ahead of the ultimate ICC event. Tendulkar, the legendary right-handed batter, affirmed that getting runs in county cricket can be advantageous to the batter and that there is no better kind of practice than playing practice games.

"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," Sachin said as quoted by India Today. 

The Oval is going to be a good venue for India: Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar also affirmed that the nature of the Oval pitch assists the spinners. He pointed out that perhaps the surface may not be a turning track but a little bit of zip off the pitch and also overhead conditions can change things and it can be a good venue for spinners. With R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja as their two excellent spin options, the 50-year-old believes the squad can draw a lot of comfort from the pitch element.

"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. 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," he added further.

A formidable group of Indian cricketers will need the ideal balance of talent and temperament when they compete against an equally formidable Australia in the World Test Championship final, which begins on Wednesday, with the hope of breaking a 10-year ICC trophy drought. The last ICC trophy India won was way back in 2013 when they bagged the Champions Trophy in England. Since then, the side has lost three finals and on four occasions, they lost momentum at the semifinal stage.