World Test Championship final | Hard to see past Kohli: Hussey on India’s key players

Captain Rohit Sharma and star batsman Virat Kohli. File
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

Michael Hussey feels it is “hard to see past Virat Kohli” if India are to win the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval in London from June 7.

Besides Kohli, skipper Rohit Sharma will be key to India’s chances in the WTC final, the former Australia batter said.

“It’s hard to see past Virat Kohli. He (Kohli) is obviously coming back into some great form again in all forms of the game really, so both he and Rohit Sharma with the bat are going to be important for India,” Hussey told the ICC website.

Kohli is back to his best and recently scored back-to-back hundreds in the IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Kohli has reached the U.K. along with Mohammad Siraj, and the team is training at Kent Cricket Ground ahead of the final.

India recently won the home series against Australia but the WTC final will be a different ball game, reckons Hussey.

“It is going to be played in England, so English conditions will be different to the recent series in India, so I think the fast bowlers are going to be important.

“Pat Cummins (is a key for Australia) and Josh Hazlewood might be fit again which would be nice for Australia.

“But India have got so many great bowlers as well. You’ve got (Mohammed) Siraj and (Mohammed) Shami and obviously the spinners with (Ravindra) Jadeja and (Ravichandran) Ashwin as well. It’s a world-class attack and the Aussies are going to have to be at their best to beat them.”

Hussey did not pick a favourite for the one-off game. The pressure will be on India who are yet to win an ICC title since 2013.

“I just want to see two great teams go head-to-head and see who comes out on top. We just want to see good, hard, fair cricket and whoever comes out on top deserves to. And it should be a fantastic match,” said Hussey who is part of the IPL side Chennai Super Kings’ support staff.