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Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has urged Pat Cummins and co. to be vary of Shubman Gill in the ICC World Test Championship final, beginning on June 7th at The Oval. Chappell feels the youngster will not hold back in playing free-flowing cricket.
Gill has had a meteoric rise across formats in the last 18-20 months. The right-hander scored a flamboyant 128 against Australia in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad in March and has been in excellent form in IPL 2023.
In his column for ESPN Cricinfo, the former commentator wrote:
"The Australian bowlers also need to pay careful attention to Shubman Gill. He tends to play with no fear and has a stroke-making mentality, which will not change even on this momentous occasion."
While the 79-year-old admitted Australia's over-reliance on Steve Smith, Usman Khawaja, and Marnus Labuschagne for runs, he believes David Warner could take the game away quickly when on song. He added:
"Australia rely heavily on Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja's big scoring ability but the enigmatic David Warner shouldn't be overlooked. Despite his struggles in England, Warner is a dangerous player because he can score quickly. If he gets a start, India need to be wary because of the danger Warner presents."
Chappell further stated that the absence of Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah hampers India's chances significantly. He said:
"The injuries to Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant badly affect India, as they would be outright favourites with these two playing. The somewhat surprising unavailability of allrounder Hardik Pandya also harms India, as he could have provided them with the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle."
Pant suffered an accident late last year and sustained life-threatening injuries. The keeper-batter underwent multiple surgeries but is likely to miss the entirety of 2023 to recover fully. Meanwhile, Bumrah has been out of action since September 2022 due to a back injury.
"England in early June should be right up their alley" - Ian Chappell on Australia's pace unit
Ian Chappell underlined that the pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood should find it easy to take wickets in England, especially in early June.
"If Australia's classy pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood are available, that makes them slight favourites. They are good bowlers any time, but England in early June should be right up their alley. Nevertheless, an Indian pace attack containing Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav is also strong and only just behind the Australian trio in wicket-taking capability."
India lost the 2021 WTC final against New Zealand and will be keen to make amends against Australia.
