The high-voltage World Test Championship (WTC) finals will be taking place at The Oval from 7th June 2023. It will be played between India and Australia and is the summit clash in the World Test Championship.
India will be playing their 2nd WTC final and would be hoping to get over the line against Australia. Notably, India hasn’t won a single international world event since 2013 and would be desperate for clinching off this silverware.
The ICC T20 World Cup 2022 champions on the other hand would be quite relaxed as they don’t have a monkey on their back.
As the WTC finals inch forward, the team combinations will be very important. After a string of injuries to some top-class players in the Indian cricket team, Head Coach Rahul Dravid and Indian captain Rohit Sharma would be fretting over the proper and right team combination.
Now a million-dollar question arises as to whether Ravichandran Ashwin should play the WTC finals or not. The world-class spinner has all the ammunition and arms up his sleeve to single-handedly win a game for India but his skill-set in overseas conditions, especially in England is limited.
Will India drop Ravichandran Ashwin in the WTC finals?
Ideally, when a team is playing in England in the longest format of the game, they go with 1 spinner. Australia might be doing the same and we might see only Nathan Lyon as the spinner of Australia.
India should play Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin as the former is a better batter. If we take a look at the all-round prowess of both the players, then Jadeja is ahead in the piping order.
But again, the fact that Ashwin had played really well in the WTC finals in 2021 versus New Zealand comes up. He had bagged 4 wickets and in the 2nd innings, he was the sole performer with the ball.
But balance wise, India should make Shardul Thakur play ahead of Ravichandran Ashwin in the finals. Thakur is a medium-pace bowler and is known for being a bowler with the “golden arm”.
He can bat as well and can increase the balance of the Indian cricket team in the WTC finals.
India’s Squad for the World Test Championship finals
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav
Standby Players: Surya Kumar Yadav, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mukesh Kumar
Also read: WTC Finals IND vs AUS 2023: Ricky Ponting Warns Australians About This Indian Player
