It has been 10 years since India has won an ICC title. The World Test Championship (WTC) final, which commences here on Wednesday, presents the team a chance to ease itself of this heavy burden.
India will want to make amends for its defeat in the inaugural WTC final held at Southampton in 2021, when New Zealand cruised home by eight wickets in a rain-affected encounter. Australia stands in the way this time around, as India take another shot at redemption.
In Shubman Gill, India boasts of the hottest property in world cricket. Gill had the best of times in the recent IPL, finishing as the highest run-scorer of the tournament. In this calendar year alone, the Punjab batter has scored international centuries in all three formats.
Australia will be double wary of Gill’s flashing blade, given that he has the wood over strike bowler Mitchell Starc. Left-arm seamer Starc has been unable to dismiss Gill in nine Test innings, and has gone for a strike-rate of over 90.
If Gill has become synonymous with big scores, his opening partner and skipper Rohit Sharma is in a slump. The Mumbai opener may not read too much into his IPL form, but he will nervy taking first strike at The Oval.
Mumbai batter Ajinkya Rahane makes his comeback, having last played a Test in January 2022. Rahane reinvented himself as a powerful strokemaker in the IPL, and also found some red-ball form with two centuries in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy.
The vastly experienced Rahane, a veteran of 82 Tests, lends a stable hand in the middle-order.
Cheteshwar Pujara is best prepared to face English conditions, given that he turned out for Sussex in the County Championship over the last two months. Pujara made the most of the experience, hitting three centuries in a successful stint.
Virat Kohli, the captain in the Southampton outing, will want to correct his sub-par record in England.
The star batter managed only 249 runs in the five Tests against England when India last toured here, at an average of 27.66. Kohli can take solace in the fact that the last time India met Australia in a Test, he stole the show with a brilliant 186 in Ahmedabad.
The dependable K.S. Bharat is set to keep his place as the wicketkeeper in the eleven, ahead of Ishan Kishan.
With the overcast skies and seamer-friendly pitch, India will be tempted to play four fast bowlers in Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur. Umesh, prone to spraying the ball around while striving for extra pace, could come good when reverse swing is on offer in the latter stages of the match.
R. Ashwin could be picked over left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, as that the off-spinner offers a better match-up option to the four southpaws in the likely Australian batting unit.
Australia will be desperate to see David Warner turn and corner. Giving Warner company in the fight against the new ball is comeback man and form batter Usman Khawaja.
Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, the No. 1 and No.3 ranked batters in the world respectively, form a strong middle-order core. Speedster Scott Boland, who has taken 28 wickets in his first seven Tests, has earned his spot over Michael Neser.
The settled Australian line-up picks itself, and looks the stronger side on paper. But India, the top-ranked Test side, will not go without a fight.
Comments
SHARE