WTC final 2023: Hopefully India will cross the finish line this time, says Cheteshwar Pujara

India’s number three Cheteshwar Pujara is hopeful that the team will cross the finish line this time in the World Test Championship final against Australia. India had qualified for the WTC Final 2021 but lost to New Zealand by eight wickets.

In fact, India had last won a major ICC trophy back in 2013 when MS Dhoni led the team to glory in the Champions Trophy. Since then India has been consistently qualifying for the knockout stages of big events but they have not been able to cross the last hurdle.

Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara is going to hold the key for the Indian team while batting at number three. Pujara has proved to be a thorn in Australia’s flesh on many occasions and he will look to be at his best for the Rohit Sharma-led team.

The right-hander scored 545 runs in eight innings at an average of 68.12, including three centuries and he w the second-highest run-getter of County Championship Division Two.

“We have had very good preparation so hopefully this time we will cross the line,” Pujara told the ICC.

“Most of the guys have played enough cricket here and some of them have played County cricket too. And you need that experience…we know each other’s strengths and we have played a lot of cricket against Australia as well so we know what to expect from the opposition team.”

On the other hand, Indian head coach Rahul Dravid added that Cheteshwar Pujara’s experience will be crucial for the team. Pujara has scored 2033 runs in 24 Test matches against Australia at an impressive average of 50.82 and he will look to carry good show against the Aussies.

“Yeah, we certainly have had conversations with Puji. About obviously about batting, but he also leads Sussex. So he has a good idea about the kind of tactics and the strategy that is used by the County bowlers that he has played with, so we have had some conversations in and around that. We will see how we can maybe incorporate some of that,” Dravid said.

The WTC final will be played at the Oval from June 7.