Category: Cricket

Hello and welcome to this blog about the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia at the Kennington Oval, London from 7th to 11th June. In this blog, I will be talking about the campaigns of each of these two teams and also write about the team combinations, Probable XI and much more

INDIA
After the 2021 WTC heartbreak, the Indian team replied strongly by coming to the WTC final for a second time. Having faced initial setbacks with a series loss in South Africa and also a captaincy crisis when Virat Kohli gave up his captaincy. However, since then, with a great home season, India stormed their way back with wins with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and squared the series in England with a formidable English team. They finally confirmed qualification to the WTC final again courtesy of a series win with Australia at home.

Now talking about the WTC final, India would go with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma as their openers, where the former has had a fantastic IPL and Rohit Sharma showed signs of form in the latter half of the IPL. Chesteshwar Pujara, fresh from the County Championships, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane would follow up the openers and are the main players for India for building the innings together and posting a good score. Srikar Bharat, who still hasn’t shown his capabilities, could put up a good show with the bat and also behind the wickets. Ashwin and Jadeja, the spin brothers can spin a web around the Australian batters. Mohammad Shami, Siraj and Jaydev Unadkat (only if fit, otherwise Umesh Yadav) make up a great pace brigade which can challenge the Aussie openers with the new ball. The player to watch out for is Ajinkya Rahane, who has come back strongly with the bat in the IPL after being dropped from the test squad for a year he will hope to be a part of the Indian playing 11 in future tests and also give his team a great score for the ultimate test.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Chesteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj.

Ajinkya Rahane would love to make a strong comeback to cement his spot in the Playing XI

AUSTRALIA
Having come 3rd last time around due to an over-rate penalty in the 2nd test with India, Australia just never had any obstacles in this cycle of the WTC final, getting crushing wins with England, South Africa, Pakistan and the Windies at home before suffering a series defeat with India. But due to the dominance they had before the India series, they just needed one win and they managed to do it in Indore.
Talking about the WTC final, David Warner and Usman Khawaja make up a strong opening pair for the Aussies as the latter had a great tour in India. Labuschagne, Smith and Carey can play out many overs to frustrate and tire the Indian bowlers after the 20th over or so. Travis Head and Green are hard hitters and can give their team a great flourish towards the end and also score runs quickly. Cummins, Starc and Bolland can bulldoze the Indian batting with their accurate seam presentations and Nathan Lyon, the speciality spinner can single-handedly spin a web around the Indian batters.
The player to watch out for is Travis Head, and it would be interesting to see his approach with spin and also would love to back his aggressive batting to decimate the Indian bowlers.
Probable XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Scott Bolland, Nathan Lyon.

It will be interesting and entertaining to see Head’s approach to the Indian attack in the ultimate test.

Hope you enjoyed the preview of the biggest test match this year held in London. There will be a blog coming soon on the upcoming Ashes series held in England so stay tuned…

1. India: India is currently the best side in the world, winning almost 20 consecutive series and they also have a well-balanced squad. The Indian top order look set as Kohli and Rahul have both come back to form. Suryakumar Yadav is in the form of his life and he can anchor this mighty team. Hardik Pandya has had a good rest and is fully fit for the World Cup. India also has a world-class finisher in the form of Dinesh Karthik, who can turn up the tide and win games for India. However, the bowling and the fielding have been the main concerns for India as, without Jasprit Bumrah, the death bowling has been terrible in India’s recent series. So, the main focus of India should be to fill in the shies of Bumrah and have a balanced team in this World Cup

2. Australia: The mighty Australians are the favourites to win the World Cup as they are playing on home soil and are familiar with the bouncy pitches in Australia. With the likes of David Warner, Aaron Finch, Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Tim David, Cameron Green, Mathew Wade, Maxwell and Stoinis in good form, it is a star-studded batting lineup and it is going to be a headache for selectors for choosing the right batting squad. The bowling also looks formidable with spin wizards Adam Zampa, Hazlewood, Cummins and Starc. So, the Australians are clear favourites to win the cup unless any blunders in the death overs are made.

3. England: England would be high in confidence after their win with Pakistan in their recent 7-match T20I series without the influence of Buttler, Bairstow and Livingstone. Getting super close to the World Cup final the previous year, England will be high in confidence by welcoming Buttler to their team. Alex Hales, Dawid Malan and Buttler can mount huge runs in the powerplay. Livingstone, Stokes and Moeen Ali can apply the finishing touches to post a huge total for their side. England also has a fine bowling lineup with Mark Wood, Adil Rashid and Jordan, who can decimate teams with their bowling. So, even England has a nice chance of winning this world cup.

4. New Zealand: New Zealand would be disappointed by not winning the World Cup last year but they will fancy their chances once again as they also have a well-balanced squad. Williamson, Conway and Guptill can chip in a few runs and get a good start for their side and NZ can finish on a high with the likes of James Neesham and Daryll Mitchell. By far, New Zealand has the best bowling with Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Ferguson and Sodhi.

5. South Africa: With their recent consolation win over India in their recent series against them, South Africa would be high in confidence. Having a superb campaign the previous time, De Kock, Markram and Rossouw give a well-settled top order and SA has one of the mightiest finishers in the form of David Miller, who can smack sixes for fun. Kagiso Rabada, Nortje, and Maharaj have been top-notch and can go through the batting of the opposition team.

6. Pakistan: Pakistan, just like England, were close to getting to the finals of the previous edition but will pose great competition to all the other teams. The problem with Pakistan is they are heavily dependent on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, their two openers and both are placed in the top three in the ICC rankings. The bowling looks set with Haris Rauf bowling beautifully, Shadab Khan and Nawaz can blow through the opposition’s batting and Shaheen Afridi, who can swing the ball initially.

7. Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka would have to play the qualifiers first but they would be high in confidence after winning the recent Asia Cup. Kusal Mendis and Nissanka can provide a brisk start for the Lankans and Bhanuka Rajapaksha and their captain, Dasun Shanaka can provide big finishes. Sri Lanka does have a world-class bowling line-up with Wanindu Hasaranga, Theekshana, Chameera and Madushanka.

8. West Indies: The champions of 2016 just haven’t continued this legacy in the present and they also have to play the qualifiers. Kyle Mayers has been a positive for the Windies and Nicholas Pooran, Russell, Powell and Jason Holder can provide huge finishes but the latter is coming back with a disappointing CPL. The bowling lineup has been key to the Windies with the likes of Akeal Hosein, Cottrel, Odean Smith and Alzarri Joseph, having to play an instrumental part in their matches. So the Windies have a low chance of even coming to the semis

9. Bangladesh: Bangladesh was already knocked out in the group stages of the Asia Cup and also eked out wins in a two-match series with UAE. The main person in the team is Shakib, who has to play an influential role in the welfare of the team. Backed by Mustafizur, they can be a threatening bowling lineup.

10. Afghanistan: Afghanistan is an emerging team and they would fancy their chances to go deep into the tournament. It has a well-settled top order and Ibrahim Zadran can anchor the innings. Najibullah can play a huge role as a finisher. Afghanistan has the best spin bowling unit in the world with Nabi, Rashid Khan, and Mujeeb, who can spin a web through the opposition.