It's hard to see past Virat Kohli: Michael Hussey shares opinion on India’s strengths ahead of WTC Final

Owing to RCB’s exit from IPL 2023, Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj have already made the trip to England well ahead of the upcoming WTC Final against Australia, which is scheduled to commence on June 7th at the Kia Oval. 

Many believe that if India are to beat Australia to lift the Mace, Virat Kohli will have to play a crucial role, for he is a seasoned campaigner and with the English conditions tough for batting, the former India captain’s experience will be very handy. 

With Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, two of India’s best performers in Tests over the past year, out due to injury, much of the heavy lifting will need to be done by the senior trio of Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara. 

Former Australia great, Michael Hussey, talking to ICC, spoke about how crucial it will be for Kohli and Rohit to turn up with the bat for India to challenge a strong Australian setup. 

Hussey said, “It's hard to see past Virat Kohli. He (Kohli) is obviously coming back into some great form again in all forms of the game really, so both he and Rohit Sharma with the bat are going to be important for India.”

He also shed some light about the conditions and what challenges come with it for India, stating, “It is going to be played in England, so English conditions will be different to the recent series in India, so I think the fast bowlers are going to be important. Pat Cummins (is a key for Australia) and Josh Hazlewood might be fit again which would be nice for Australia."

Hussey then pinpointed India’s strengths in the fast bowling unit, saying, “But India have got so many great bowlers as well. You've got (Mohammed) Siraj and (Mohammed) Shami and obviously the spinners with (Ravindra) Jadeja and (Ravichandran) Ashwin as well. It's a world-class attack and the Aussies are going to have to be at their best to beat them."

He concluded by saying, “I just want to see two great teams go head-to-head and see who comes out on top. We just want to see good, hard, fair cricket and whoever comes out on top deserves to. And it should be a fantastic match.”