Pant, who is recovering from injuries sustained in a horrific car crash in December, was India’s main batter when the top order failed, especially in overseas conditions.Suryakumar, who made his Test debut against Australia at home earlier this year, can do the same for the team, but he is only among the replacement players. The injury to K.L. Rahul has made room for Kishan, who Ponting believes can help India play aggressive cricket in its quest to win its first ICC title in 10 years.

When asked if Suryakumar should have been in the lineup, Ponting expressed surprise and said yes.

But there is another X-factor that has just been added in the form of Ishan Kishan. If you look at the way he plays, he is probably most similar to Rishabh Pant in his potential to hold and hit in the middle lineup.

If they play these guys, they should be allowed to play aggressive cricket.

The best chance for India to get a result is to be a little more adventurous in their game and Australia will try to do the same, Ponting told PTI in reply to a question at an event organized by the International Cricket Council ahead of the WTC final at the Oval on June 7.

Shreyas Iyer, K.L. Rahul and Jasprit Bamrach are other injured players who will not be able to participate in the final.

With India having an injury problem, they could use a few different ways, especially at bat. Before Rahul’s injury, I used to put him at eleven, now that he is gone, they need to pick Ishaan or K.S. Bharat, said the three-time ODI World Cup winner.

Slight advantage for Australia given the conditions================================

Ponting thinks Australia has a slight advantage before the title fight.

If this game were held in India, I would say Australia would be very hard to beat. If this game were in Australia, I would say Australia would be the favorite, but in England it brings the teams closer together.

We don’t know what the conditions will be. After the Oval game, I think the conditions will be much more similar to the Australian wicket compared to the Indian wicket, so a slight advantage will be on Australia’s side. The legendary cricketer said that both teams can use the Kookaburra ball for the big game, but a source at the ICC said that according toThe game will be played with a Dukes ball, according to the rules.

Who is better prepared for WTC as most Indian players are busy in IPL? ============================================

Most of the Indian members of the WTC play in the IPL, while only three Australians play in the T20 competition.

Of the Indian players, only Cheteshwar Pujara plays in county cricket and of the Australians, Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne play in England now. Skipper Pat Cummins and spearman Mitchell Stark have chosen to remain in their home country and have not played in months.

There are two ways to look at this. It’s better for someone like Virat to play now, score consistently and be confident before the game than to face Australians at home who haven’t played much cricket but will be mentally better prepared, Ponting said.

So you can look at it from two angles. Will Shami be better in terms of skill compared to Cummins, who hasn’t played cricket in months? That’s a tough question. A lot comes down to individuality. The 48-year-old player doesn’t think there is an advantage either way.

Indian players in the IPL will think beyond the IPL. They will be doing workloads to make sure they are fine and can play in a Test match in a couple of weeks.

The other thing is that not all these players will be playing in the final IPL. Some of them will be out tomorrow and they will have two and a half weeks to rest and prepare.

I’m not sure what is right or wrong. What the Aussies have done by being there like Smith and Labuschagne, they are giving themselves the best chance to get used to the conditions.

But I’m sure if you ask Virat what he’d rather be doing, he’ll say, I’d rather be scoring points right now. If you ask fast bowlers, they’d probably prefer to take a couple of weeks off. So it works both ways.

Ponting on the desire of young people to play red ball cricket in the franchise era

This question has a different answer in different countries. For example, in the Caribbean, it is becoming increasingly difficult to train young people who want to pursue the dream of playing Test cricket, said the former Australian captain.

Their payment system in the Caribbean compared to some franchise leagues is not up to par, and it will be the same in Sri Lanka, and it will be the same in Bangladesh.Ponting said the ICC is in talks to resolve the issue.

This is not the case in India, England or Australia. You are well paid to play Test cricket for your country and most tend to play Test matches. This is where the ICC has a role to play.

… make the pay more even in international Test cricket to attract players from these different countries who want to play for their country, he said.

It’s being talked about at a very high level in the ICC to help that, but in India I feel most of these youngsters tend to wear the baggy blue cap, and the same in Australia, he added.