The World Test Championship Final will get underway in just a few hours. It will be India who will take on Australia in the WTC Final at The Oval, England. India will be searching for that long-missed ICC trophy. They are yet to win a trophy since 2013 despite making the playoffs numerous times. Australia on the other hand is unarguably the most successful team when it comes to ICC tournaments. Here is all you need to know before the WTC Final, India vs Australia clash.
India’s Road to the WTC Final
India comes into this clash as the second-placed team in the WTC rankings. The previous cycle’s runner-up would want to better their last final performance where they lost to New Zealand. India won four out of the six series they played during the cycle. They lost to South Africa away from home and drew with England away from home.
Their first series came against England where the first match got drawn. India won the second game while England won the third. India got their lead back as they defeated England at The Oval in the 4th Test. The fifth test match was rescheduled due to Covid which was eventually won by England to draw the series.
New Zealand visited India for their next series where India emerged victorious in the two-match test series. The first match in Kanpur was drawn while India won the decider in Mumbai.
India visited South Africa for a three-match series where India won the first game. South Africa made a superb comeback as they managed to win the remaining two games.
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Sri Lanka toured India for a two-match series where they were swept clean. India won the first game by an innings and 222 runs and in the second game, they won by 238 runs.
India then visited Bangladesh for another two-match series where they won the first game pretty comfortably. In the second game, India looked like they could lose the game at one point but they managed to snatch a victory by 3 wickets thanks to a great partnership between Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin in the fourth innings.
In their final tour, India clashed with their WTC Final opponents. Australia toured India and lost the first two matches. They were able to win the third test match in Indore. The last match of the series in the Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad saw a plethora of runs which resulted in a draw. India won the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2-1.
Australia’s Road to the WTC Final
Australia finished their WTC cycles as the number one ranked team. Like India, Australia too won four out of the six series they played. They drew with Sri Lanka away from and lost to India away from home.
Australia started their WTC cycle with the Ashes at home. The hosts won the first three games pretty comfortably and looked like they would clean-sweep their arch-rivals. England managed to get a draw in the fourth test match in Sydney. While the final test match in Hobart was won by Australia to end the series 4-0.
Australia then visited Pakistan after 24 years. The pitches in the first two matches in Rawalpindi and Karachi provided no assistance to the bowlers which resulted in batters getting a lot of runs and the matches were drawn. Australia managed to win the third test match in Lahore thanks to great bowling performances.
Australia concluded their visit to the sub-continent with a tour of Sri Lanka. Australia won the first match by 10 wickets but lost the second game by an innings and 39 runs thanks to a double century by Dinesh Chandimal.
West Indies visited Australia for a two-match series. Australia won the first match in Perth by 164 runs and won the second game in Adelaide by 419 runs.
South Africa then toured Australia for a three-match series. Where Australia won the first two games and the third game in Sydney was drawn.
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Their final series came against India where they lost the four-match series by a 4-1 margin.
IND vs AUS Match Details
India vs Australia, Final, WTC 2023
Venue:
The Oval, London, England
Date and Time:
7th June – 11th June (12th June as reserve day) 3:00 PM IST
Telecast and Streaming Details:
Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar
IND vs AUS Pitch Report
The pitch at The Oval like other pitches in England will assist the fast bowlers. The Oval’s pitch is expected to get better for the batters as the game progresses. With the cloudy weather of England, the captain winning the toss will be expected to bowl first as that gives them a chance to bat in the fourth innings as well.
IND vs AUS Probable Playing XIs
India:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia:
David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Pat Cummins (c), Mithcell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
IND vs AUS Match Prediction: India to win the match
Disclaimer: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.
