“When you don’t win it, it’s obviously going to hurt. and it should hurt. You are not there just to make the numbers. You are going to play to win and you want to win. But if I look in hindsight, the circumstances of that World Test Championship as opposed to now is chalk and cheese. It was tough times. There was Covid, there was quarantine. When it came to preparation too, it was hard on the players. You are 14 days in isolation and then in a week’s time, you play the game. While now, both teams have had enough time. They have been playing competitive cricket. I think this one will be a really good contest,” Shastri said in the ICC event ‘Afternoon With Test Legends.’

“Match fitness will might come into play. It’s not the number of overs you bowl or just staying in the park for 6 hours. It’s totally different from bowling in the nets. It depends how they practice. On paper if you look at man to man, Australia might have the slight edge but that match fitness will be the key,” he added.

Meanwhile, both Shastri and Ricky Ponting feel that the Indians are better prepared for the World Test Championship final beginning Wednesday with IPL game-time under their belt.

Shastri, Ponting and Pakistan legend Wasim Akram all feel that the Oval track will remain fresher than it usually is as it has never hosted a Test match in June in the venue’s 140-year history.

Shastri, felt that had Jasprit Bumrah been there, India would have started on even keel if not as favourites.

“I would say if you look at pace attack, if Bumrah was there, I would say it was equal with an attack of Mohammed Shami, Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj. But that Aussie attack with Starc, Cummins, may be the match fitness will come into play,” Shastri said.

In fact, Ponting also seemed in two minds whether being fresh without lot of games is better than playing some intense T20 cricket.

“Some of the Aussies have done nothing and not played anything. Coming in fresh, is that better? Or coming tired slightly jaded but playing lot of cricket, what is better,” said Ponting, without a definite answer.

Akram’s take on workload issue has been consistent over the years.

“I, as a player, like having cricket (games) behind me. Format doesn’t matter as long as I am playing. It’s better to have tournament like IPL.” Shastri, who was in the Indian dressing room when they lost the rain-marred final at the Southampton in 2021, said that things have been completely different in this cycle.

For Akram, who has played more than a decade of county cricket in England, mainly for Lancashire, a team he also captained, a June Test match in Oval will have its own set of conditions. “In Oval, you play a Test match either in last week of August or during first or second week of September when the pitch is bone dry. But this time it’s a fresh pitch and it’s early June.

“There will be a lot more bounce. The Dukes swings lot more and for longer time and stays a lot harder than Kookaburra. I think Australia will be slightly favourites,” the ‘Sultan of Swing’ said.

For former Australia skipper Ponting, the conditions at the Oval in month of June, with promise of a sunny weather. He said it reminds him more of conditions back home rather than English.

“Never been in a Test match held at the Oval in June (since 1880). The pitch should be perfect. It’s a neutral ball (Dukes and not Kookaburra or SG Test) at neutral venue and it (Dukes) does (seam and swing) longer (periods of time).

“You look at this venue, it is more like an Aussie venue than English. Conditions slightly favour Australia,” he said.

(With Agency inputs)