Australian side not affected by poor record at The Oval ahead of WTC final against India, says skipper Pat Cummins
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head of his side's ICC World Test Championship final match against India from June 7, Australia skipper Pat Cummins admitted that his side is not affected in any way by their poor Test record at The Oval, where it has won only two Tests in the last fifty years.
In an event ahead of the ICC World Test Championship final against India, which will start at The Oval, Cummins discussed the WTC Final, Test cricket, the Indian team, etc.
Out of their 38 matches at The Oval, Australia has won only seven, lost 17 and drawn 14. With a win percentage of 18.42, this is one of Australia's worst-performing venues across the world. In the last fifty years, they have won two (in 2001 and 2015).
"Not really (if the poor record at The Oval bothers his team). Our playing group has not played a lot of those matches. Our side is experienced. We have played some Ashes matches here. Some of our guys have scored runs. It has a similar pace, bounce to many Australian venues. We hope to get that same pace, bounce in the WTC final," said Cummins.
Australia missed out on the final of the first World Test Championship back in 2021 due to a slow-over rate penalty, which saw their points being reduced. Cummins said that initially, it was not something much talked about in the group.
"But when we saw the final (between India and New Zealand), we realised what we had missed. It has been a driving force for us during these last couple of years. We have played some really awesome cricket during this time," said the Aussie skipper.
"At home, we have been formidable, except against India, which defeated us twice. We have a lot of experienced players, some players at the top of their game despite being at the twilight of their career. It is going to be interesting playing at a neutral venue," added Cummins.
On lack of cricket played before the WTC final as compared to India, which played a lot of Indian Premier League (IPL), Cummins said that from a bowlers point of view, he would prefer to be "underdone" than "overdone", to stay fresh.
"We have been having a great time training. The team is fresh and rejuvenated," added Cummins.
Cummins said that Test cricket is the top format of the game and he loves it.
"It drains you mentally and physically. It tests you in every aspect as a player. You have to pick yourself, dust everything off yourself more than any other format," added Cummins.
Australia ended at the top of the WTC table with 11 wins, three losses, five draws in 19 matches whereas India ended in second position with 10 wins, five losses and three draws.
India's squad for WTC final Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).
Suryakumar Yadav, Mukesh Kumar and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been named as stand-by players for the high-stakes match.
Australia squad Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Standby players Mitch Marsh, and Matthew Renshaw.
✔️ Australian side not affected by poor record at The Oval ahead of WTC final against India, says skipper Pat Cummins
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