Former India pacer Venkatesh Prasad reckons the Indian batters could have a huge task ahead of them if Mitchell Starc manages to claim a couple of wickets with the new ball in the 2023 World Cup final. However, Team India will play against Australia in the title decider at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, November 19. Notably, the Australian seamers reduced India to 2/3 in their league-stage clash. However, the hosts bounced back to register a convincing six-wicket win.
During a discussion on CNN News 18, Prasad said: “100 percent, I think they have got all the areas covered. They do have the bowling attack. They have a left-arm seamer in Starc. If he gets a couple of wickets early, in the first 10 overs, it’s going to be really challenging for the Indian batting lineup.”
READ MORE: Sanjay Manjrekar dissects Virat Kohli’s poor show in WTC Final
Prasad also added that Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins could also pose a challenge to the Indian team apart from Starc. He again stated: “They have Josh Hazlewood, who pretty much bowls those Test match lines and lengths, just hits the back of length, and because of his height, he gets that extra bit of bounce as well. Not express pace – probably high 130s I would say. Pat Cummins, with his experience, change of pace and variations, is also a handful.”
However, Starc dismissed Ishan Kishan, who was playing in place of Shubman Gill, for a duck in the first over of India’s chase in the league game as well. Then Hazlewood dismissed Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer in the next over to put India in a troublesome situation. However, a 165-run fourth-wicket partnership between KL Rahul (97*) and Virat Kohli (85) helped India win. On the other hand, Venkatesh Prasad feels Adam Zampa needs to step up in his game.
READ MORE: Harbhajan Singh says Australia have the upperhand in the WTC final
“Zampa needs to be more effective. In the last game when they played against South Africa in the semi-finals, he was not quite effective. He was not able to bowl the ball in the right areas. He is not a Shane Warne, who could turn the ball from middle and leg to the off-stump. He was trying to cut down on the runs I suppose, being defensive instead of showing an intent of taking wickets. He went wicketless on a rank turner, I would say, in the second semi-final. He needs to really put up a better show and needs to come up with a couple of wickets,” Venkatesh Prasad concluded.
