Team India will face Australia in the ICC WTC Final 2023 at the Kennington Oval in London from June 7. Ahead of the WTC final, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has reacted to veteran cricketers including Ravi Shastri, Ricky Ponting and Wasim Akram picking Australia as favorites to win the final.
Ricky Ponting had earlier stated that the Indian players will be tired after the IPL 2023 season. On the other hand, Ravi Shastri opined that due to Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, the Australian side are the favorites to win the WTC final. Wasim Akram too put his money on the Aussies.
Not having hype is a good thing: Rahul Dravid on WTC Final
On June 5, the Indian head coach was asked about experts’ favoring the Australian side for the final to which he responded quite positively.
“Whatever happens, it will happen over the next 5 days. Whatever happens before that, whatever is being said before and after doesn’t matter. Who is favourite, who is not… these are two good teams who are playing. Both teams have some good players. I have very good hope that if we play good cricket, if we can take 20 wickets and score runs, I have confidence that we can win this. Probably, not having hype is a good thing,” Rahul Dravid said ahead of the WTC final.
“Not at all, we don’t feel any pressure in terms of trying to win an ICC trophy. Of course, it would be nice to do it. Nice to be able to win an ICC tournament,” Team India’s head coach further added.
This is the culmination of 2 years of work: Rahul Dravid
“But also, in the context of things, you look at this and you see this is the culmination of 2 years of work, the culmination of a lot of success that gets you here. There are a lot of positives to take from that, see where you stand in the table, winning series in Australia, drawing series here,” Dravid discussed about Team India’s journey.
“Being very competitive, this team has played in the world over in the last 5-6 years. Those are things that will never change, just because, you don’t have an ICC trophy. That’s really the bigger picture,” he further added.
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It’s worth noting that the Indian Team hasn’t won a single ICC trophy since 2013 and will certainly hope to clinch this prestigious title. However, they will miss a few key players like Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer in the WTC final.
