Curated By: Vineet Ramakrishnan
Last Updated: June 06, 2023, 11:25 AM IST
London, United Kingdom (UK)
R Ashwin, ahead of the WTC Final, spoke about the pitch and weather conditions at the Oval (Screengrab)
WTC Final: Two days before the start of the summit clash between India and Australia, R Ashwin got a bit of insight on the pitch and the weather conditions this week.
All the talks to the build-up to the India vs Australia WTC Final at the Oval have been about the pitch and since it is in England, questions over the weather are also doing the rounds. However, two days before the start of the summit clash, India’s R Ashwin got a bit of insight into the pitch and the weather conditions.
Ashwin, speaking on his Youtube spoke with a ‘Pitch Doctor’, presumably one of the pitch curators at the Kennington Oval and got a bit of insight on how the pitch could behave. Ashwin could be seen asking the gentleman referred to as ‘Leez’ how the pitch could behave.
Ashwin starts by asking what is in store and the gentleman replies that it will be a good oval wicket. Ashwin then proceeds to tell him that during practice some of the Indian players got hit due to the bounce and Leez was quite intrigued with the comment, replying, “Bounce? Did it bounce a lot today?
Ashwin replied, “Yeah, it bounced a lot today. You don’t like me. You don’t get it to spin, right?”
If we have to take a cue from this little conversation, safe to say that pacers could enjoy the pitch with some extra bounce. The interesting thing to note is this will be the first time ever a Test match will be played at the Kennington Oval in the month of June and English summer at its peak.
The ‘pitch doctor’ further goes on to add to Ashwin’s query, “Can we expect a nice and bouncy Brett Lee pitch?” that the pitch will most definitely be bouncy. “It will be bouncy. That’s one thing I can guarantee. It will be bouncy.”
WTC Final Weather Prediction at the Kennington Oval
The weather is largely clear for the duration of the WTC final with the forecast being sunny for the first three days followed by chances of patchy rain on the 4th day, i.e. 10th June and overcast conditions on the fifth day.
The pitch, two days from the game, had a greenish cover hinting at assistance to pacers. And India will have a tough decision to make on whether to go with an extra spinner from Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar or to slot in a pace bowling allrounder in Shardul Thakur, who could be better suited for this pitch and could give a bit of depth to the batting.
