NEW DELHI: Ian Chappell believes that Australia's formidable pace attack will provide them with an advantage in the upcoming World Test Championship final against India, particularly in English conditions.
The former Australian captain suggests that India might be "badly affected" by the absence of injured players Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant, whose contributions could be missed.
Furthermore, the Indian team has also been dealt with the blow of Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul being ruled out of the final due to injuries. These absences may potentially weaken India's overall team strength and depth.
Chappell's assessment implies that Australia's strong pace bowling line-up, coupled with India's injury concerns and missing key players, could tilt the balance in Australia's favour for the World Test Championship final, scheduled to take place from June 7-11.
Chappell also said injury-prone Hardik Pandya not playing red-ball cricket also harms India. Hardik last played a first class game in 2018.
"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," Chappell wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.
Majority of the Indian players go into the final after two months of IPL but Chappell feels that might not negatively impact them after all.
1/10:Ishan Kishan replaces KL Rahul for WTC final
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2/10:Ishan Kishan
<p>Ishan Kishan was on Monday named as injured KL Rahul's replacement in India's squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval in June. </p>TNN
3/10:KL Rahul
<p>Rahul, who had been captaining the Lucknow Super Giants, was ruled out of the rest of the IPL and the WTC final after suffering a thigh injury in a match while chasing a ball. </p>AP
4/10:Test debut awaited
<p>Kishan was a part of India's squad in the Border Gavaskar Trophy at home in March, though he didn't get to make his Test debut. </p>Getty Images
5/10:Test cap?
<p>It would be interesting to see if the Indian team management decides to stick with 'keeper KS Bharat or gives a maiden cap to Kishan. </p>Getty Images
6/10:KS Bharat
<p>KS Bharat played in all the four Tests during the Border Gavaskar Trophy series but scored just 101 runs in six innings. </p>Getty Images
7/10:Jaydev Unadkat
<p>A decision on the availability of Rahul's LSG teammate Jaydev Unadkat - who had hurt his left shoulder while training - for the WTC final has been deferred. </p>Getty Images
8/10:Freak injury
<p>Left-arm seamer Unadkat has been out of the IPL after falling over the side rope while bowling in the nets. </p>PTI
9/10:Umesh Yadav
<p>Pacer Umesh Yadav, also on the injury list, had sustained a minor left hamstring injury in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 26. </p>IANS
10/10:No bowling
<p>Umesh Yadav hasn't bowled for Kolkata Knight Riders since the injury. </p>IANS"As it should be, this is a hard match to predict. That's mainly because of injury concerns and neither team having played a Test since completing a hard-fought series earlier this year.
"To make matters even more difficult, many of the players involved have only competed in the IPL in the lead-up to the one-off Test.
"While this may not seem to be the ideal preparation, it's worth recalling the opinion of former England batter Ravi Bopara. In 2009, Bopara went from the fledgling IPL into a Test series against West Indies and reckoned he was ideally prepared because T20 got his feet moving and put him in a positive frame of mind," he said referring to Bopara's successive hundreds in the Caribbean.
Chappell also reckons Australia's pace attack is just ahead of India while the Rohit Sharma led side has the upper hand in the spin department.
"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."
1/10:Team India standbys for WTC Final
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2/10:WTC Final
<p>India face Australia in the WTC Final at The Oval in South London from June 7 to 11. </p>Getty Images
3/10:The standbys
<p>It is reliably learnt that Sarfaraz Khan, Ishan Kishan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini are the standbys for WTC Final. </p>TNN
4/10:Ruturaj Gaikwad
<p>Sarfaraz Khan and Ruturaj Gaikwad are specialist batters. </p>TNN
5/10:Navdeep Saini
<p>Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini are fast-medium bowlers. </p>Getty Images
6/10:Ishan Kishan
<p>Ishan Kishan is the lone keeper-batter among the standbys. </p>Getty Images
7/10:Warm-up match
<p>Team India could play a multi-day warm-up match leading into the WTC final. </p>Getty Images
8/10:IPL playoffs
<p>Some players not featuring in the IPL playoffs, which will begin from May 23, will proceed to the UK in advance. </p>Getty Images
9/10:Ajinkya Rahane
<p>Ajinkya Rahane earned a recall for the WTC Final when the squad was announced on April 24. </p>Getty Images
10/10:The Dhoni factor
<p>Inputs from former India and Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni were taken by the Indian team management and the selection committee on Rahane. </p>ANIMental strength will hold the key in a one-off Test, said the former Australian captain.
"The team that displays the most resilience is likely to win as long as the contest is not unduly affected by bad weather. Being able to maintain a decent line and length under attack is now mandatory in the tougher series, and a fully fit Australian attack should benefit if the opposition are overzealous," Chappell said.
"Therefore much will depend on how the batters treat the talented opposing pace attacks. Australia rely heavily on Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and Usman Khawaja's big scoring ability but the enigmatic David Warner shouldn't be overlooked.
"On the Indian side Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara are a handful because they have enjoyed success in Test cricket. Their job will be tough against a strong Australian attack.
"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."
Considering the conditions, he said Australia are slight favourites.
"With the match being played under English conditions, this slightly favours the strong Australian pace attack. However, as Bopara showed, you should never underestimate the value of IPL preparation for batters."
(With PTI inputs)
