After the first batch of Indian players left for England to take part in the WTC final that is set to take place at the Oval from June 7-11, on Wednesday, former India skipper Virat Kohli along with his wife Anushka Sharma left for England. One of the fans posted a video on his Twitter handle where Anushka was spotted wearing a white t-shirt styled with denim jeans and a blazer while Kohli donned a t-shirt and joggers paired with a cap at the Mumbai airport.
Kohli was last seen in action in the IPL 2023 where his team RCB was eliminated after they lost a must-win game against Gujarat Titans on Sunday at Chinnaswamy Stadium Bengaluru. Talking about Virat's IPL 2023 stint, the 34-year-old batter had a terrific season with the bat, smashing 639 runs in 14 games, averaging 53.25 and striking at 139.82. Meanwhile, former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting revealed the conversation he had with the former India skipper.
He said, "I caught up with Virat about a month ago when we played them in Bangalore. And I had a good chat to him about his batting and where he was at and his career. And he said to me then that he actually feels like he's almost back to his absolute best. You probably saw that last night, you know, he's had a very good IPL and I'm sure he'll be the prize wicket that all the Australians are looking are looking forward to".
India’s skipper Rohit Sharma will also be flying to England after concluding his IPL duties as his team is set to play against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator clash of the cash-rich league. This is the second time that India will be featuring in the World Test Championship Final as they lost the first one against Kane Williamson-led New Zealand.
Meanwhile, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting revealed that Kohli told him during a recent chat about him back to being at his best. Ponting reckons the right-hander will be one of the most prized wickets for the Australians.
Squads
India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.