“I think Starc’s going to win” - Tom Moody makes huge prediction on Aussie pacer’s battle with Rohit Sharma
Former Australia all-rounder Tom Moody has predicted that Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc will win the battle against Indian captain Rohit Sharma in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. According to Moody, conditions at The Oval will assist bowlers and Starc is good enough to take advantage of the same.
India will face Australia in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7 to 11. The Indians will be featuring in their second straight final in the World Test Championship, having gone down to New Zealand by eight wickets in Southampton in 2021.
While Virat Kohli was in charge of the team during India’s previous WTC final, the reins are now with Rohit. The latter’s battle with Australian left-arm pacer Starc could be one of the defining contests of the clash at The Oval.
Sharing his insights on the Rohit vs Starc battle, Moody made an interesting observation.
“It’s going to be an interesting one. Rohit Sharma is coming out of a modest IPL season by his standards. But international cricket and Test cricket is a very different playground. We know the world-class batter that Rohit Sharma is," he said on Star Sports.
“I think just the timing of this particular Test match in England - early June, where the bowlers tend to get some assistance with overhead conditions and also the pitch being a little bit livelier than the end of the summer - I am sort of tipping the bowlers to have the edge over the batters. So, in this case, I think Starc is going to win the battle,” Moody added.
Rohit had a disappointing IPL 2023 season, scoring 332 runs in 16 matches at an average of 20.75 and a strike rate of 132.80.
“I hope he brings his A-game to the table” - Vengsarkar on Rohit’s form
Former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar described Rohit as a big match player and expressed hope that the batter will bring his A-game to the table for the WTC final.
"Rohit's role will be very crucial both as a captain and also as an opener. He is a big match player and the occasion can't get any bigger than this. I hope he brings his A-game to the table,” he told Hindustan Times.
Vengsarkar, however, acknowledged that switching from T20 (IPL) to the Test format could be a bigger challenge for the Indian captain than his form.
"More than the form I think the fact that he will be straightaway coming to the Test match from T20s might be a bit of an issue. I wish they had a few practice games before the WTC final," he added.
“When you go into a Test match as big as this and remember, there are no second chances, unlike a series, it is important you are prepared well,” Vengsarkar continued.
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Rohit scored 242 runs in four Tests at an average of 40.33 during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year. He hit a hundred in the opening Test in Nagpur but failed to convert his starts in subsequent matches.