'Need not be always a turning track' - Sachin Tendulkar feels Oval pitch will assist spinners, backs India to win WTC final 

Sachin Tendulkar (Source: Twitter)

The spotlight has switched to London, where two world cricket heavyweights, India and Australia, will square off in the Test Championship (WTC) Final from June 7 at the Oval. So far, the surface has been predicted to favour the seamers, with head groundsman Lee Fortis promising a bouncy pitch. However, there is still uncertainty over its behaviour because the WTC final will be the first ever Test played here in June.

As India and Australia look to clinch the maiden Test Championship title, several former cricketers have backed Pat Cummins and Co as favourites. The former India head coach Shastri admitted that Australia are the favourites on paper because India are without Jasprit Bumrah. Mohammed Shami will lead the Indian pace attack comprising Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat and Umesh Yadav.

Oval is going to be good venue for India: Sachin Tendulkar

While much is being spoken about pacers and Australia's advantage, legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has sided with his country and believes India should have both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the big game. He says the Oval pitch will assist the spinners as match progresses.

"The Indian team will be happy that they are playing at the Oval. The nature of the Oval pitch is such that it assists the spinners as the match goes on. So, spinners will come into play a little bit," Tendulkar said on his website 100mbsports.

"It need not be always a turning track as sometimes the spinners rely a lot on the bounce, sometimes that little bit of zip that they get off the pitch, also on the overhead conditions and it depends a lot on the shiny side of the ball. If they are able to get that drift, they can make the ball talk in the air without the pitch coming into play. So, Oval is going to be good venue for India," he added.

It will be interesting to see if India actually go with two spinners or field an extra seamer. Meanwhile, Indian captain Rohit Sharma said his team is not too focused on the unusual scheduling of the game.

"We've been hearing, not much of cricket is played here in June. County season has been played here. We saw there was a game played a couple of weeks back here. It's not like it's the first game of the season happening on this ground. We are quite aware of what the conditions are, what is going to happen in the next five days," said Rohit.