Follow UsIndia are all set to rekindle their rivalry against Australia in the summit clash of the World Test Championship set to commence at The Oval on June 7.
With two dominant sides in world cricket going head to head in the longest format for the coveted trophy, the excitement around the final has been sky-high among the fans.
In conversation with ICC at a media event in Delhi, Ricky Ponting shared insights on the much-awaited clash and said, "The fact that we are here 20 days out of the World Test Championship, it just goes to show what the excitement is all about for this one-off Test match."
"The ICC have to be applauded for making this possible, and I think it has been four years since the points leader winning the mace to this final. We have seen New Zealand pick this up a couple of years ago, and today we see the two best teams in the last two years, Australia and India go head to head at The Oval."
"This is not an everyday ordinary Test match, and there is a lot more as both teams want to be recognised as the best Test team in the world over the last couple of years," Ponting added.
The former Aussie skipper also applauded the ICC for their efforts to revive Test cricket by introducing the World Test Championship.
"The whole idea of having this was to give more context to give every single day's play during a Test match, and each player is always trying a find a way to win the Test to stay alive in the race for World Test Championship."
"We have seen teams miss a chance at the final because of slow over-rate and being docked points throughout the year. A lot of hard work has gone into it, and whoever is good enough to be standing up there and hold that trophy will be very, very deserving," he further added.
The 48-year-old also believes that the conditions on offer will favour Australia more than India, with true bounce that will help the batters on the first three days of the game.
"The conditions should suit Australia more because the English conditions are more like Australia than they are like India because the last couple of series that Australia travelled to India, the wickets have been spin-friendly."
"The choice of the ball being used has also been in the news for a long time, and if the teams will be using the Duke ball or the Kookaburra ball, it sounds like both teams have agreed on the Kookaburra ball, and nobody knows how that will play in England."
The rivalry between the two sides has been one of the major talking points in the last couple of years, and Ponting believes it is at par with England and the Ashes series.
"The rivalry has increased and will increase game by game. I think in the late 1990s, when India really woke up to how big a force they were in world cricket. A lot of the younger Australian players talk about how the rivalry is as big as the Australian and England rivalry," Ponting said.
Ponting, who is also the Head Coach of Delhi Capitals and shared insights on his conversation with Virat Kohli a month back when the two sides locked horns.
"I had a chat with Virat when we had a game in Bangalore, and he almost feels like he is back to his absolute best, and we all saw that last night. He had a very good IPL, and I am sure he will be the prized wicket that all the Australians will be looking forward to."
"In the last few series we played, Pujara against Australia has been really hard to dismiss, and he is playing in England right now along with Steve Smith."
"I guess it will be India's top order against Australia's fast bowling because we generally talk about the battle between Indian spinners and Australian batters, but will that have an effect at The Oval," he concluded.