'Whichever team adapts well to the conditions will win the title' - Virat Kohli speaks up as India and Australia gear up for WTC Final 2023

The excitement among the fans for the World Test Championship final 2023 is at its peak as the mega event is just two days away. India and Australia will be locking horns in the summit clash from June 7 at the Oval in London. Notably, it will be the first time ever that a Test will be played at the Oval in the month of June and hence both teams are unaware of the conditions that the ground will present during the game.

While Oval has been a batting-friendly wicket traditionally with not much swing on offer, star India batter Virat Kohli feels that the conditions at the venue will be challenging this time around. Kohli feels that the batters will have to play cautiously and put emphasis on technique and discipline to succeed.

“I think the conditions at the Oval will be challenging. We won’t get a flat wicket and batters need to be cautious. One will have to play cautiously and put tremendous importance on technique and discipline. It’s all up to the experience that you play according to what conditions have been presented to you. We can’t go in with a pre-determined mindset that this is how the pitch is going to play and need to adjust and adapt,” said Kohli in a video shared by Star Sports.

The former India captain further said that whichever team will adapt well to the conditions will win the title.

“We only have one game at hand, it’s a neutral venue for both teams. Whichever team adapts well will win the game. That’s the beauty of the World Test Championship, two neutral teams with no home advantage to any side. It will be exciting to see how both teams adapt,” he added.

India aim to end their ten-year ICC trophy drought

Notably, it will be India’s second consecutive appearance in the World Test Championship final after they lost against New Zealand in the inaugural edition in 2021. The Rohit Sharma-led side have a herculean task of finalizing their team combination ahead of the big game and it will be a task deciding which two bowlers from Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Shardul Thakur should be included in the playing XI.

All three players have performed exceptionally in England as Thakur scored twin half-centuries in India’s famous win at the venue in 2021 while Jadeja scored a splendid hundred in India’s last Test in England. On the other hand, Ashwin was the joint highest wicket-taker for India in the WTC final in 2021. It will be interesting to see which two players make the cut for the summit clash as India look to end their ICC trophy drought of ten years.