*INDIA VS AUSTRALIA PREVIEW- WORLD TEST CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL 2023*
*THE BUILD UP:*
*GEAR UP FOR AN ARM WRESTLE:*
India vs Australia
3:30PM IST at the Iconic Kennington Oval, London
The world isn’t ready to witness the face off between India and Australia, two of the best test sides over the last two years and arguably the last decade as well. The amount of consistency despite the injuries and the lack of form that these units have shown is immense, and it’s no surprise that they are right here at the iconic Oval, competing for ultimate glory at the pinnacle of the sport.
India are chasing an ICC trophy after what’s been a decade of misery and close knockout exits. This year presents them with an opportunity to grab hold over two ICC titles, first the WTC finals trophy followed by what’s expected to be a high octane World Cup tournament. Beginning from today, India begin their quest to end their barren run and prove why they have been the most improved test unit regardless of the conditions and the opposition on offer. This is only the second time that Rohit Sharma is leading India in an ICC face-off and with the hope of strengthening their hold, he is bound to walk out with confidence.
It has been a topsy turvy journey for the Men in Blue, ready to dorn the whites come today as the Rohit led side wasn’t lead by the Hitman all the way long. Exactly an year ago, Virat was the leader of this pack but amidst the controversies, India saw a total of about 5 test captains leading at different points and different times, some in away tours whereas some took charge in home series. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul had a say in the captaincy department before Rohit came and helped sail India the ship of domination.
Now with the pressure of playing consecutive finals of this decorated event and battling it out for the test mace, we expect India to show no less of a fight and for a change, come out victorious.
*ARE AUSTRALIA THE FAVOURITES?:*
Australia hold the aces in their favour for the nth time. The conditions and the environment on offer is ideal to what has given them success over the years at their home ground and for them to come out here with a fired up batting lineup combined with a fiery bowling group, expect them to come out all guns blazing. All the Top 4 superstars in their sequential order have amassed mighty runs, not just on flat decks but on highly competitive bowling friendly pitches as well. It would be a hard ask for the Indians to stop the Aussie top order with the form they are in. A good start in both innings from them and we may see a deflated Indian bowling casually waiting for the game to end.
What makes the men from downunder a massive threat is the relentless consistency that they show with the bowl in hand. The likes of Cummins and Lyon, who are all set to play a vital role for Aussies this week, are the kind of bowlers that keep coming at the batters and to mix that with the inswing danger of Starc and the skiddyness of Boland, makes Australia a renowned force. India need to pull off something remarkably special to negate these threats.
*INDIA PROBABLE XI:*
Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, K.S Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj, Mohammad Shami
This is the combination that I would like India to go in with as it gives them the batting depth till number 8th position coupled with the presence of 3 quality fast bowlers and 2 world class spinners in Ashwin and Jadeja
My choice to prefer Unadkat over Umesh simply boils down to the fact that Umesh was not at his best form in the IPL, proving to be extremely ineffective at times however Unadkat showed promise in his tool to Bangladesh and was able to generate more bounce than any of the pacers which keeps him in good stead
The invaluable experience of off spinner Ashwin shouldn’t be taken lightly specially against an Australian batting group who he ha posed threat to. He boasts of a better average in England than Shardul and is a more stable batting option as a result of which he features in my 11. Bharat over Kishan was a tough pill to swallow but since the right handed batter has been a part of the setup for nearly 2 years and has better wicket keeping skills, it will be unfair to remove him from possibly the biggest game in the test calendar.
*AUSTRALIA PROBABLE XI:*
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(wk), Patt Cummins(C), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
With Hazlewood ruled out of the competition, Boland featuring in the playing XI is confirmed as Cummins told to the press. The skiddyness and the accuracy that he offers to this group sets him apart from the rest and his heroics once the ball gets old will also be worth a watch. He can post a massive trouble to the Indian batters.
David Warner is under the scanner and he rightly should be. The southpaw has been an epitome of inconsistency and with a final set to happen, this may as well be his final WTC final. If he turns up on this big occasion and churns up some important runs for his team, Australia will be in a good position.
Both Marnus and Smith have dominated these conditions and are set to be India’s nemesis come this final. How these two match up vs the Indian bowlers and how they tackle the conditions on offer is going to be key in Australia placing their bet to win the title. If the two are removed early, India can sense a chance otherwise they are in for a toil for a long period.
*MY PREDICTIONS FOR THE GAME:*
*FOR INDIA:*
Highest run getter- Cheteshwar Pujara/Virat Kohli
Highest wicket taker- Mohammad Shami/Ravindra Jadeja
*FOR AUS:*
Highest run getter- Steve Smith/Usman Khawaja
Highest wicket taker- Pat Cummins/Scott Boland
*FOR THIS GAME:*
Australia to win