"Get Pujara booked in nicely, and then Kohli comes in and scores a great hundred" - Stuart Broad predicts India to win the WTC final
England pacer Stuart Broad hopes that India defeat Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final ahead of the Ashes series. Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins will lead their respective sides in the one-off encounter for silverware at The Oval from Wednesday onwards
Broad, being an Englishman, showed his allegiance by siding with Rohit and Co. in the matchup against the Australians. The veteran fast bowler has already been embroiled in a war of words with the Asussies after his comments surrounding the 2021-22 Ashes during the build-up to the English summer.
Hoping that Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli score heavily to dent Australia's chances, Broad said:
“I don’t want to upset any more Aussies! I would like it to be an old school, hard-fought Test match where India do really well, get Pujara booked in nicely, and then Kohli comes in and scores a great hundred.”
Broad recently led the English attack against Ireland in a one-off Test in the absence of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson. The pacer ended with six wickets to his name, including a five-wicket haul in the first innings.
"I want to take this Indian team forward and win 1-2 ICC titles" - Team India captain Rohit Sharma
The upcoming WTC final marks India's successive appearance following their loss to New Zealand in the inaugural final two years ago. The Men in Blue finished second in the points table to set up a clash against Australia for the coveted title.
India have cultivated a reputation of being early favorites due to their firepower in the squad, but have struggled to clear the final set of hurdles and lay their hands on silverware.
Aiming to lead the team to multiple ICC titles, Rohit Sharma said during the pre-match press conference:
"Test cricket is the ultimate format, most challenging format and it will mean everything for us to win it. I want to take this Indian team forward and win 1-2 ICC titles."
He continued:
"Overall, if you look at the consistent cricket that we played, we displayed good cricket all around. It's a very tough tournament. We've got to play consistent cricket throughout the couple of years to get here. You need all the departments to do well for you. And I thought our strength really has been all three departments."
Who will win the second edition of the WTC Final? Let us know what you think.