"Teams should opt to bat first as pitch is dry...": Australia's side-arm specialist Pritesh ahead of World Cup final
Nov 18, 2023
By Vipul Kashyap
Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], November 18 : Pritesh Joshi, a bowler currently serving as a side-arm specialist for the Australian team, said that the five-time world champions aim to play an attacking game against India in the final of ICC Cricket World Cup and added that it would be better if teams opt to bat first after winning the toss.
India and Australia will lock horns in the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. India will be looking to lift the trophy for the third time while the Aussies will be looking forward to making it their sixth title win.
"Their mindset has always been about playing attacking cricket. They do not try to avoid or escape anything. They will play an attacking game in the powerplay and then in the middle overs, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will serve as anchors. Then, later on, their finishers will attack once again in death overs. They will be looking to go all-out against India and play with freedom," said Pritesh to ANI.
"Their mindset is to win in knockout matches. They have a self-belief to win in knockout stages. The only loophole for them is playing spin," he added.
Pritesh advised that the teams should look to bat first and the wicket could spin. He also advised India to play spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to tackle left-handed openers David Warner and Travis Head.
"The pitch looks dry. The ball can spin. If a team wins the toss and chooses to bat first, it would be better. Because later on, the possibility of the ball spinning would be higher. The wicket has a bit of grass on it. In the first innings, a score of 300-350 could be made," he said.
"India has a nice bowling attack. They should play Ashwin as there are two leftie openers. He can bowl in powerplay," he added.
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Prasidh Krishna, Suryakumar Yadav.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (C), Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Sean Abbott, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitch Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, David Warner, Adam Zampa, Mitchell Starc.
