Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has attributed the result of the World Test Championship Final (WTC) to the exceptional performances of Australia’s star players in contrast to their Indian counterparts.
Throughout the summit clash, the Australians displayed complete dominance, ultimately securing a resounding victory by a staggering margin of 209 runs. This remarkable achievement marked Australia’s inaugural WTC title triumph.
Australia posted 469 as Travis Head and Steve Smith made 163 and 121 respectively after being put into batting first, and bundled India out for 296, taking a first-innings lead of 173 runs.
“I think the difference in the two teams for this final is that Australia’s bigger name players really stood up in that Smith led the way. David Warner, I thought on Day 1 probably went a little bit unheralded for his 40 odd in very trying circumstances on Day 1 and Smith, Head and the bowling brigade who’ve done such a great job over a long period of time were outstanding again,” Ponting told the ICC.
Ponting also commended the spirited and amicable rivalry that has developed between the two teams in recent years.
“This game has been played in incredible spirit as well and I think the one thing between Australia and India over the last 5-6 years is the spirit that the games are played in, the competition is fierce as you would expect but you see the way these players are now interacting with each other, it’s outstanding,” he added.The Australian went on to suggest that there might be even more remarkable achievements in store for this team in the near future adding that there’s no reason why this set of players won’t be around for long.
“A lot of positives for the Australians and we talked about this team having been together for a long time, there is no reason why it won’t be together for lot longer. Warner’s talked about going till the Australian summer. Khawaja has been in seriously good form for the last 18 months as well so there could be some more special things for this group just around the corner,” Ponting said.
By clinching victory in the World Test Championship Final, Australia solidified their position as the first team ever to triumph in all four ICC events.
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