After being upstaged by the Black Caps in the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship, the onus is on run-machine Virat Kohli to make amends and deliver the goods with the bat in India’s second straight final of the showpiece event. Last season’s runners-up India led by Rohit Sharma will cross swords with Pat Cummins’ Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship at The Oval on Wednesday.
One of the most successful leaders in the longest format, Kohli guided India to the first-ever final of the World Test Championship back in 2021. However, Kohli and Co. failed to end India’s trophy drought in ICC events as the Asian giants were outclassed by Kane Williamson’s New Zealand in the rain-marred final at Southampton. Taking up the role of a pure batter after relinquishing the Test captaincy, Kohli has regained top form in the second edition of the Test Championship.
Kohli, who ended his Test century drought in India’s previous meeting with Australia, has urged the Indian batters to be cautious on the neutral turf of The Oval. Sharing his views in a recent interview with Star Sports on Follow the Blues, Kohli opened up about the challenge of batting against Cummins and Co. at the famous venue. “I think The Oval will be challenging, we won’t get a flat wicket and batters need to be cautious. We will need to concentrate on our focus and discipline,” Kohli said.
Kohli can break Don Bradman’s career record in the summit clash and the ex-India skipper is also eyeing Rahul Dravid’s massive feat against Australia at The Oval. Run-machine Kohli has smashed 869 runs for Team India in the second edition of the World Test Championship. “So you need to have the experience to play as per the conditions and we cannot go in with the expectation that The Oval pitch will play as it always has. So we have to adjust and adapt, we have only one match in a neutral venue so whoever adapts better will win the match. This is the beauty of the World Test Championship, two neutral teams with no home advantage, so it will be very exciting to see how both teams adapt to the situation,” Kohli added.
