World Test Championship Final 2023 (7th June - 11th June)

The second edition of the World Test Championship concludes with the final between Australia and India, starting on Wednesday at 10:30 BST (that's half an hour earlier than tests in England usually start, so be aware!).

Australia narrowly missed out on reaching the first final, but for this cycle they comfortably topped the table with 11 wins in their 19 tests. This included a 4-0 hammering of England at home and also a narrow win in Pakistan, although they did lose to India in India by a margin of 2-1. India edged out South Africa to 2nd place to reach their second consecutive final, and they'll be hoping to go one better than 2021 where they were defeated by New Zealand in the final.

The two squads are as follows:

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

Reserves: Mitch Marsh, Matt Renshaw

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

Reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav

Must be noted that Josh Hazlewood, who has hardly played any tests over the past few years, has been officially ruled out of the final, as he continues to battle troubling injuries. Boland will be the likely beneficiary.

Unlike the 2021 final, the weather forecast is for continuous sunshine and temperatures going into the high 20s. There is a reserve day in place, but it's not probable that this will be required.

I favour Australia to win this one. Their batting and seam bowling seems much the stronger, plus Australia are likely to find conditions more to their advantage than India.

Didn't think Hazlewood would make it for this : would I think have been a daft risk to pick him yet with five more games close together coming up. Boland was in the original squad so the logical replacement in the XI ; but with Neser now officially added to the squad I suppose he could be an option. Depends if they want extra batting I guess.

Would generally fancy Australia in English conditions in this ; but given all this warm weather predicted I wonder if we might see the Indian strength in spin bowling (they could potentially play three of them - and they can all bat !) bring them into the contest ?

Expect we will see more than three days cricket in this one anyway ! Hope it is a good contest...

Coming from hot, humid, placid masala IPL into WTC final in @Oval in London  with no real first class cricket nor acclimatization to conditions is far from ideal.

But this is what you get in this BCCI era where IPL interests  take precedence over everything else and Aussies are only marginally better prepared I would think.

India's XI finalization has two real and a notional variable:

1- Bharat as a WK who cannot bat and his excellence in keeping is only theoretical, as he was found fluffing multiple times vs Aus in the last series
OR
Ishan Kishen as a WK who can be a like for like replacement for Rishab as an aggressive LHB and a pretty competent WK
for me and most cricket followers its a no-brainer to have Ishan.
It was rank stupidity to put Bharat in 4 tests ahead of Ishan vs Aus in Ind.

These type of flawed  selections arise out of convoluted logic based on  popular perception that excellent batsman WK would be somehow less in skills as a WK

2- Ashwin or Shardul? given that Jadeja will be the first spinner for sure and Shami+Siraj+Umesh will be the first 3 seamers

We don't know what kinda oval pitch this will be?
In the last version of WTC final it was a rank seamer's paradise ( was it Ageas Bowl Southampton) and India was stuck with 2 spinners and badly missed the 4th seamer.

Unless it looks like distinctly a dry-flat pitch, Shardul is odds on playing.

3- The notional choice is between Rahane & SKY and I would like to see "run away with the game" SKY in the 11....but Rahane-the -senior-the ex-captain  is much more likelier to be offered this slot as his Redemption or Swansong game.
I think the discussion is notional.....they put Rahane in the squad and have to play him.

Gill will open and is being hyped as the next star of Indian cricket in the mold of Kohli & Tendulkar.
He is a good stroke player and can tear apart the bowling if he gets set....he is susceptible to the moving new ball in English conditions.....so he has to see off 50 odd balls as an opener to get into the destroyer mold.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is another star in the making in the squad risen from poverty and slums .....that everyone want to see succeed.

I think Aussies are equal to Indians and while their seam bowling all-rounder in Green is better ......India's Jadeja evens the balance in being better than Lyon as a batsman.

If the pitch is a seaming one ( as expected) the one who wins the toss will put the other side in and will hold the edge.
And in the end it would be a pity if toss skews the outcome of the game heavily

Word from the Oval is it's been playing fast and flat so far this summer.

king_carlos wrote:Word from the Oval is it's been playing fast and flat so far this summer.

Absolutely. Surrey have regularly been using a 5 man seam attack there.

Looks Greener than anything I have seen in India ever
Two days still to go though and they will shave off some....but the grass is live and will play up
Not dead /brown rolled into the ground

It's hard to take too much from a pitch before matchday. On England's last tour of India there was a pitch that looked as green as that 2 days out. On matchday it looked more like a sandpit that long jumpers land in!

The Oval has been flat and fast all season as resident expert Guildford confirms above. They'll also be desperate for the game to go as many days as possible for obvious financial reasons. I'm expecting it to bat pretty well early on at least.

king_carlos wrote:It's hard to take too much from a pitch before matchday. On England's last tour of India there was a pitch that looked as green as that 2 days out. On matchday it looked more like a sandpit that long jumpers land in!

The Oval has been flat and fast all season as resident expert Guildford confirms above. They'll also be desperate for the game to go as many days as possible for obvious financial reasons. I'm expecting it to bat pretty well early on at least.

Ha! Too kind, Carlos. Probably more semi resident than resident expert.

Anyway, a point I was going to make on the Ashes thread but it almost belongs as much here - there's been a few comments there about the sort of track England will want prepared to boost their chances of victory. Whilst that's understandable and I'm sure preferences will be stated, the commercial reality of the hosting county club looking to swell their own coffers through beer sales and the rest should not be underestimated. As an extremely senior figure in the Oval hierarchy said to me a few years ago, ''The ideal Ashes wicket is one on which England win in the third session on day five.''

Ah! Time for some test cricket again... Did follow the England-Ireland a bit, it was some nice little resistance from the Ireland lads in the 2nd innings...

As for this WTC final, I hope India will go one better this time round, but Australia are the frontrunners at the moment. Kohli did get a big one eventually in the Australia home series, but even Boycott's grannie would've wanted to bat on that on the 11th day of the game even. Rahane is making a return after a terrible couple of years. Gill is yet to fully establish himself in test cricket. Pujara has had middling record of late for a while though he should be better prepared than the rest with those big county knocks. Rishabh Pant, their best batter of the current cycle will be badly missed with the bat, and even with the gloves. Pant in his 2nd coming, has been pretty decent with the gloves as well...
In the bowling department, Bumrah's absence not much felt at home, will be again a big disadvantage.
Australia, despite Hazlewood not being their, have a well rounded and experienced enough bowling unit. And other than Warner, their batters have been more consistent and productive.

As for India's selection, I'd go for Kishan over Bharat. Bharat is no Riddhi Saha. Even Saha used to drop a few here and there of quicks, Bharat isn't in that league with spin or pace as a wicketkeeper. As such, their consideration should be who would be the better bat. That is Kishan in my view.
As for the combination, if the pitch seems flat, think they would need Ashwin. Jadeja makes it for his batting alone in any case, but on flat pitches, while he doesn't give anything away, is not the best at creating wickets out of nowhere. With no Bumrah in there, it has to be Ashwin.
Umesh Yadav had a good couple of spells in England of late. But he's more of a subcontinent quick... Think Jaidev Unadkat would be a decent option in English conditions. He's not as quick as Umesh, but he can offer that left-arm option and is a crafty operator. Shardul can make it only as a 4th seamer. Won't be my choice with the ball on flat tracks really.

Gill
Rohit
Pujara
Kohli
Rahane
Jadeja
Kishan
Ashwin/Thakur
Unadkat
Shami
Siraj

msp83 wrote:Ah! Time for some test cricket again... Did follow the England-Ireland a bit, it was some nice little resistance from the Ireland lads in the 2nd innings...

As for this WTC final, I hope India will go one better this time round, but Australia are the frontrunners at the moment. Kohli did get a big one eventually in the Australia home series, but even Boycott's grannie would've wanted to bat on that on the 11th day of the game even. Rahane is making a return after a terrible couple of years. Gill is yet to fully establish himself in test cricket. Pujara has had middling record of late for a while though he should be better prepared than the rest with those big county knocks. Rishabh Pant, their best batter of the current cycle will be badly missed with the bat, and even with the gloves. Pant in his 2nd coming, has been pretty decent with the gloves as well...
In the bowling department, Bumrah's absence not much felt at home, will be again a big disadvantage.
Australia, despite Hazlewood not being their, have a well rounded and experienced enough bowling unit. And other than Warner, their batters have been more consistent and productive.

Hi msp - do you have any news on how Pant's recovery is going? Thanks.

Cricinfo have listed the possible teams for tomorrow. Lot more certainty over Australia's selection.

1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland.

Aside from Hazlewood, that's a pretty much full-strength Aussie team. Will be interesting to see how Boland goes with a Dukes ball in England, he should fare very well.

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 KS Bharat/Ishan Kishan (wk), 8 R Ashwin/Shardul Thakur, 9 Umesh Yadav/Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed Siraj.

Plenty more question marks over India. Two spinners or one seems to be a key question. The Oval is generally better for spin, historically, but Cricinfo point out that the Oval has never hosted a test this early in the calendar year, so it may not be as favourable as it has been.

Looking at the two teams I have to strongly favour Australia. 3-6 in the batting is a big advantage for Australia. Smith and Labuschagne two of the world's best and more than capable in England - Smith averaging close to 60 in this country and Labuschagne averaged 50 in 2019 over here - while Head and Green are improving all the time. Meanwhile Pujara, Kohli and Rahane all average around the 30 mark in England, plus their career's are all on the downward slope (Rahane seems to have got in because he's gone well in the IPL this year).

India might just have the edge with the respective opening pairs, but Australia's seam bowling attack blows India's out the water, and the absence of Bumrah is a cruel one for the Indians. Lyon can match Ashwin if they both play.

Having said I strongly favour Australia, it is of course just one game, and one sublime spell of bowling or one stupendous innings can adjust the dial rather rapidly. Weather looks good for the first three days, although there might be some isolated showers on days four and five.

Lots are referencing Rahane having a good IPL but it's important to note he had a brilliant Ranji as well with two double tons and another 190.

I'd agree that Australia are favourites though. Also that whilst the Oval generally takes spin that has often been when playing Tests later in the summer as Duty says. Whether it will do so this early is a different question. There is a lot of cricket played at the Oval over a summer so whether that turn late in the season is just a result of so much footfall is up for debate.

Generally speaking with tight selection calls I ere towards picking your best player so I'd take Ashwin over Shardul. If India still had the same seamer depth before some bowlers started aging out and Bumrah were injured it might be a different call though.

Bumrah is a gigantic blow. When fully fit he's one of the best bowlers in the game.

I must admit that I'm a bit surprised India didn't consider Saha in the circumstances. He's a fantastic keeper and from what I've seen a better batter than Bharat.

guildfordbat wrote:

msp83 wrote:Ah! Time for some test cricket again... Did follow the England-Ireland a bit, it was some nice little resistance from the Ireland lads in the 2nd innings...

As for this WTC final, I hope India will go one better this time round, but Australia are the frontrunners at the moment. Kohli did get a big one eventually in the Australia home series, but even Boycott's grannie would've wanted to bat on that on the 11th day of the game even. Rahane is making a return after a terrible couple of years. Gill is yet to fully establish himself in test cricket. Pujara has had middling record of late for a while though he should be better prepared than the rest with those big county knocks. Rishabh Pant, their best batter of the current cycle will be badly missed with the bat, and even with the gloves. Pant in his 2nd coming, has been pretty decent with the gloves as well...
In the bowling department, Bumrah's absence not much felt at home, will be again a big disadvantage.
Australia, despite Hazlewood not being their, have a well rounded and experienced enough bowling unit. And other than Warner, their batters have been more consistent and productive.

Hi msp - do you have any news on how Pant's recovery is going? Thanks.

Hi there guildford
Pant is recovering well, he is reported to have been able to walk with crutches... He did make an appearance at the Delhi Capitals dugout during the IPL... Still will take time, hopefully, he will be back by the beginning of next year.

Thanks for the Pant update, msp. Encouraging to hear.

India won the toss and elected to field...implies seam friendly pitch in their perception....means no way they were going to play Ashwin.......and a mistake to have Bharat still and not Ishan

Looks a very good track for Shami and Siraj here. They will put the Aussie openers under big pressure.

Also like the selection of Jadeja over Ashwin.

KP_fan wrote:India won the toss and elected to field...implies seam friendly pitch in their perception....means no way they were going to play Ashwin.......and a mistake to have Bharat still and not Ishan

A lot of significance to the ''bowl first'' decision being given to the overcast conditions. Understandable but I would flag it was just the same here 20 or so miles south of the Oval yesterday morning before the sun came out early afternoon and stayed until early evening as the temperature continued to rise. 

Australia should be hoping the weather repeats itself today. Get through the first session and there may well be runs to be had. As well as the wicket as previously mentioned, the outfield has been fast all season.

Quite surprised India want to bowl first.

eirebilly_01 wrote:Looks a very good track for Shami and Siraj here. They will put the Aussie openers under big pressure.

Also like the selection of Jadeja over Ashwin.

It was never about Jadeja or Ashwin. It was Shardul or Ashwin... Jadeja picks himself as a batter first and he's no mean bowler either. Despite his moments of brilliants in test cricket, I have not been a big Shardul fan... His bowling doesn't have the cutting edge, and his batting is too much of a lottery. The track suggests otherwise and Rohit has gone with what is there to see at the outset. But think I'd have gone in with Ashwin...
And surely Kishan over Bharat, considering there is no Ashwin to make the batting stronger. Shardul can score crucial runs, but ever since he found his touch back with the bat in the England home series, Ashwin, though not quite back to his batting best, has been more reassuring...
Wouldn't fault Rohit and Dravid for the bowl first, 4 seamer and the spinning all-rounder combo though I may have done things differently. But Really doesn't like this Bharat over Kishan. Bharat is like Saha, he's not a good bat really. And I don't think he has the game to play good quick bowling anywhere, particularly in SENA...

Think India got carried away with the overhead conditions in both the call to leave Ashwin out and also bowl first. Have a bad feeling they might regret both by the end of the day.

Mohammed Shami was impressive as ever in the home series against Australia, and Umesh Yadav also turned in crucial spells. But Mohammed Siraj didn't have a lot to show for in the series. Time for him to step up here...

I suppose I did not look at it that way msp, for me it is a one spinner selection and I did not consider Jadeja as being picked as a batter alone so thought it was a shootout between him and Ashwin.

Ah! Siraj seems to have heard me there!

msp83 wrote:Think India got carried away with the overhead conditions in both the call to leave Ashwin out and also bowl first. Have a bad feeling they might regret both by the end of the day.

Maybe. But they're off to a decent start with Kawaja gone for a duck...

Decent start for Siraj

eirebilly_01 wrote:I suppose I did not look at it that way msp, for me it is a one spinner selection and I did not consider Jadeja as being picked as a batter alone so thought it was a shootout between him and Ashwin.

Ever since Jadeja's batting attained genuine all-rounder credentials, its been a question of Ashwin v the 4th seamer for India in away tests... Its Jadeja's batting evolution that facilitated reframing the question and its the quality of his bowling, while not quite Ashwin levels, that enables India to contemplate and make such a choice. Ashwin has played as the only spinner in the attack only when Jadeja was injured, since the WTC final... Else, they played together as they did in a game or 2 in Australia...

msp83 wrote:Think India got carried away with the overhead conditions in both the call to leave Ashwin out and also bowl first. Have a bad feeling they might regret both by the end of the day.

Yes it not a bowl first pitch
it's bat first and Ashwin would have been better if they batted first as he would be bowling in innings 2 and 4
Leaving Ishan out is a BLUNDER

The ball isn't moving around corners. Typical England, bit of life for the new ball bowlers... And the sun making an appearance as well. Unless they get through Labuschagne and Smith in the next hour or so, this could turn out to be a very long day for India.

I don't like balls spitting off a lnegth
2 already
and if 6 more jump like this pitch will be deemed too dangerous

Siraj has looked in better rhythm than Shami has managed so far. Shami not quite at his best yet. Since Jas B is not there, Shami really has to lead the pack here.

msp83 wrote:Siraj has looked in better rhythm than Shami has managed so far. Shami not quite at his best yet. Since Jas  B is not there, Shami really has to lead the pack here.

shami has been going to Eng for 10 years and has never looked in good rhythm
and the answer is as explained by commentators now and even in the last test
His length...is a yard short....he beats batsmen 100s of times ( literally) but has paltry wickets against it

Shardul is likely to be India's most effective bowling on this pitch IMO

Rohit giving Shami an extended go though he's still not looking at his best. Siraj creating more excitement and the only wicket so far. Perhaps time for Umesh to be given a go.
Even Umesh, in fact more so, also has had the problem with the length. Thought Shami had adjusted a lot better of late, but they both often end up bowling the subcontinent seamer's length in England...

And that's why I'd have gone for Unadkat as one of the quicks, either for Shardul or Umesh. He can hold a bat though pretty much a bowler, he offers that left-arm option, and he can swing the ball...

KP_fan wrote:

msp83 wrote:Think India got carried away with the overhead conditions in both the call to leave Ashwin out and also bowl first. Have a bad feeling they might regret both by the end of the day.

Yes it not a bowl first pitch
it's bat first and Ashwin would have been better if they batted first as he would be bowling in innings 2 and 4
Leaving Ishan out is a BLUNDER

I see it is not just England fans who get constantly agitated about whoever they choose as wicketkeeper

I'm not sure it was a great idea to leave Ashwin out - whether they batted first or second. Pitch won't help him like India ; but with all these Australian left handers I fancy he might have been useful. Are the back up seamers really going to be better value ? He can bat a bit too...

msp83 wrote:And that's why I'd have gone for Unadkat as one of the quicks, either for Shardul or Umesh. He can hold a bat though pretty much a bowler, he offers that left-arm option, and he can swing the ball...

we already have a 5 man tail...can't make it longer with losing shardul's batting skills
Unadkat could have been in place of Yadav

The pitch has seam, bounce, uneven spitting deliveries, hard to score...and yet Aus win first hour with only one down
India need to get half a yard up with length and 3 to 6 inches further inside with line

Didn't they leave Ashwin out of the entire series against England in 2021/22? Maligned Ashwin, indeed...

Lively start, but India will be disappointed to have only got one for their efforts. Really liking the colour of the scorecard graphics.

msp83 wrote:Siraj has looked in better rhythm than Shami has managed so far. Shami not quite at his best yet. Since Jas  B is not there, Shami really has to lead the pack here.

I've been impressed by Siraj in the first hour as has Nasser referring to him as ''an old fashioned, in your face fast bowler''.

Its a cool morning out there, and yet they could manage only 12 overs in the first hour. Poor! Get Sir Ravindra Jadeja on just for this, he'll show them how to do it!

KP_fan wrote:I don't like balls spitting off a lnegth
2 already
and if 6 more jump like this pitch will be deemed too dangerous

Fundamentally disagree and not, I trust, just because of Oval bias and you probably already winning PJ's competition.

Tough attritional cricket certainly in the opening hour but a proper contest between bat and ball.

Double change from India with Yadav and Thakur coming into the attack. Australian bats suddenly looking more confident. Is Sharma already regretting his call at the toss and the one before that?

Duty281 wrote:Didn't they leave Ashwin out of the entire series against England in 2021/22? Maligned Ashwin, indeed...

Lively start, but India will be disappointed to have only got one for their efforts. Really liking the colour of the scorecard graphics.

I think one for now is just about ok but, as I was getting at earlier, India will really want/ need two and ideally three by lunch to halt Australia's advance in the middle session assuming conditions improve as looks likely.

Warner takes four boundaries off one over. He's had plenty of 'played and missed' today, and he may be past his best and nearly retired, but if you don't get him early he still scores quickly.

Warner getting a move on. Umesh and Shardul easing the pressure on the batters with some poor bowling, particularly Umesh. He has usually been pretty poor overseas, more of a subcontinent specialist.
Had one good test in England in recent times, else, his better performances have all come at home. And today, its the old version that seems to have turned up. Not particularly quick, length shorter than required, and line all over the shop.

I see Marnus still has that lucky rabbits foot in his pocket...that lbw looked pretty good ; but he got the on field umpire on his side and survived on umpire's call...

Good recovery for Australia after that early wicket. Warner ticking over nicely 38 off 46...setting himself up to renew hostilities with Broad ?

Agree with Guildford that India need two more before lunch. Thakur has looked OK so far but not so impressed with Yadav.

And this time India make a poor call and lose a review... He gets too far forward so you have to be very careful in trying those calls... A touch of anxiety with no wickets falling for a while ?

Shardul, looking better than Umesh, hits the pad a couple of times, Rohit going for the review both times, retained the first on umpire's call on impact though the batter was taking a long stride down, and lost the next badly . India a bit desperate at the moment. Warner after a troubled start, looking good. And Marnus is batting like Marnus. Giving you hope, but managing to stay in, and all the while, keeps things moving.

India went in missing their top bowler and their top Ex Factor player, and further messed up things with poor selection and tactics. This is far from over for sure and they are just a couple of good balls away from owning the session, but this just seem to be gone at the moment. Someone has to produce a real impact performance to lift the side here...

Think its time for Siraj to return for a couple of overs before lunch. And perhaps an over from Jadeja too.