WTC Final: Former England spinner names India and Australia's X-factor for mega clash

No. 1 ranked India are set to face Australia in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final on June 07 at The Oval, London. The match will present India with another chance to end their ICC title drought since 2013. It won't be an easy task asAustralia will give them a tough challenge. Ahead of Rohit Sharma & Co.'s final showdown versus the Aussies, former England spinner Monty Panesar picked one X-factor player apiece from both sides.

Panesar -- best known for his 17 scalps in England's famous 2-1 series win over hosts India in 2012/13 -- feels Cheteshwar Pujara will hold the key for India in the marquee finale whereas he picked Mitchell Starc as Australia's X-factor player.

'My X-factor batter will be Pujara for India. Starc will be one to watch out for from Australia'

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"The Indian top-order is in form. The conditions will be similar to the Wankhede pitch which is fast and bouncy. My x-factor batter will be Pujara because he has done so well in these English conditions for Sussex. He is the guy who binds this batting lineup together," Panesar told PTI.

"He is good with his defence and if the ball is going to do a little bit, he can negotiate the Aussie bowlers and when the pitch is flat, the others can cash in with some attacking cricket. You don't need to be an extraordinary wicketkeeper in England. He has been keeping and batting well. He should play ahead of Bharat," he further mentioned.

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"For Australia, Starc will be the one to watch out for. He is going to be quick and he is going to get that late movement. He can change the game with one spell. He is the guy Australia will go to when they need a wicket," Panesar added.

India and Australia locked horns in the red-ball format recently, during the 2022/23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India. Back then, Pujara returned with140 runs in 4 matches, with a best of 59 whereas Starc only managed two scalps from an equal number of games. Both will be raring to go big in the WTC final and help their respective sides emerge on top.

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Michael Neser.

Standby players: Mitch Marsh, Matthew Renshaw

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk)

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav