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LONDON : Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India with Scott Boland set to replace him in the playing XI in the one-off match beginning at The Oval on Wednesday.
An Oval Test match in the month of June does bring in the fear of unknown but former England left-arm spinner Monty Panesar would still want Indian team management to field both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the upcoming World Test Championship final against Australia. The WTC final will be played at the Oval from June 7-11. In 140 years of Test match history, this is the first time that the iconic South London ground is hosting a Test match in the month of June when the pitch is green and fresh.
Out of all the top stars who are in the Indian cricket team for the World Test Championship final, one batter who will be closely watched is Shubman Gill. The last year has been a stellar time for the dashing opener. Be it Tests, ODIs, T20Is, or even the recently-concluded IPL, Gill has proven that he is the next big thing in world cricket. Naturally, the expectations are high from the 23-year-old as the WTC final draw near. This time India will face Pat Cummins' Australia for a shot at ending their decade-long ICC title drought. However, ahead of the final, Australia great and former India coach, Greg Chappell has pointed out a few areas which might be troublesome for Gill.
A formidable bunch of Indian cricketers will require a perfect blend of skill and temperament when it clashes with an equally-strong Australia in the World Test Championship final, starting Wednesday, with an aim to end a decade-long global trophy jinx. India have been the most consistent side over the past two WTC cycles and also reached knockout phases of major white-ball tournaments over the last 10 years but a trophy has eluded them. The last major ICC trophy India won was way back in 2013 when it bagged the Champions Trophy in England.
His only Test hundred outside the sub-continent came at the Oval in 2021 and India captain Rohit Sharma says one never feels "in" as a batter in English conditions but somehow develops an intuition as to when to attack the opposition bowling. Ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia starting Wednesday, the Indian skipper, who has enjoyed the best batting average in his team (50 plus) since the inception of the tournament, feels that there is no substitute for hard grind on English tracks.
Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting termed Australia as "slight favourites" over India to win the ICC World Test Championship final against India, which will start from June 7 onwards at The Oval. In an event ahead of the WTC final between India and Australia at The Oval, Ponting said that his side is slight favourite to win the title clash. He said that conditions at The Oval are more suited to Australia as compared to India. The Aussie great also said that the lack of cricket played by Australia in recent times and the heavy dosage of competitive cricket in IPL 2023 to Indian players could also decide the match's outcome.
Cricket Australia revealed their World Test Championship (WTC) Team of the Tournament and it included just three Indians. The list had Babar Azam over India star Virat Kohli while the upcoming superstar Shubman Gill failed to secure a spot. The spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were the preferred slow-bowling options in the side while Rishabh Pant was selected as the wicket-keeper considering his heroics against Australia. While Pant has been ruled out of his injuries, Jadeja and Ashwin are in the running to play for India in the WTC Final against Australia at the Oval.
Ahead of the ICC World Test Championship between Australia and India at The Oval, Australian stars were given a task of describing Star India batter Virat Kohli in a few words. India and Australia will take on each other in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7 onwards. This will be India's second straight successive final in the tournament after 2021. "What the Aussies think of Virat Kohli #WTC23 #cricket #cricketreels," said an Instagram post from ICC. Australian skipper Pat Cummins described Virat as "Good player. Always up for a fight." Star batter Steve Smith, who is also part of the 'Fab Four' batting stars of the modern era along with Virat, Kane Williamson and Joe Root, described the batter as "Superstar".