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Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting named Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara as two key players of the Indian team in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia. Pujara’s batting record against Australia has been excellent. He has scored more Test runs against Australia than any other team he played against in his cricketing career. The 35-year-old has so far scored 2033 runs in 24 Tests against Australia with help of five centuries and 11 half-centuries, averaging 50.82. Virat Kohli too enjoys batting against the Baggy Greens and has a strong Test record against them. So far in Tests, Kohli has scored 1979 runs in 24 matches against Australia with eight tons and five fifties at an average of 48.26. Earlier this year, in the fourth Test of IND vs AUS Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli scored 186, his personal best score against Australia in Tests.
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“The Australian team will be talking about Virat, no doubt about it, and they’ll be talking about Pujara. They’re the two,” Ponting said on The ICC Review. “Pujara has been a thorn in their side a lot in the past, and in Australia, and this wicket will potentially be a lot more like an Australian pitch. They know that they’ll have to get him early,” he stated.
“They also know that Virat over the last few weeks is probably just about back to his absolute best, albeit in T20 cricket. He told me that the feeling he’s getting right now is that he’s almost back to his best, and that’s an ominous warning for the Australians going into a one-off game,” Ponting added.
The much-awaited India vs Australia WTC Final will be played in England from June 7-11 at The Oval. A total of 105 Test matches have been played between arch-rivals India and Australia since 1947.
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