WTC final, Australia vs India: Rohit Sharma elects to field
Australia and India square off in the final of the ICC World Test Championship at The Oval, London. This will be the second WTC final, with India being involved in both of them. Two years ago, they fell short of the mace, which was bagged by New Zealand. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to field.
India leave out Ashwin; Hazlewood sitting out
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Scott Boland. India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.
Pitch, conditions, and streaming details
At The Oval, if the conditions are cloudy, pacers can inflict some damage with the new Dukes ball. As far as the weather forecast is concerned, the first three days and the fifth day are expected to be sunny. However, Day 4 can witness passing showers of rain. Star Sports will telecast the match live, while fans can live-stream it on Disney+Hotstar.
Road to the 2021-23 WTC final
India started their WTC campaign in England where they managed a 2-2 draw. They later defeated New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and ultimately Australia to qualify for the final. India finished with a point percentage of 58.80 and took the second spot (127 points). Meanwhile, Australia defeated England, Pakistan, and South Africa to top the points table with 66.67 points percentage (152 points).
Earliest Test of the English summer at the Oval
This is the first time an international will be held at The Oval in June. The previous-earliest Test here was during the English summer started on July 8 in 1982 when England hosted India. The match ended in a draw.
A reserve day is in place
As mentioned, the WTC final will be held from June 7 to June 11. Like the previous edition, a reserve day is kept on June 12 to make up for any loss of playing time due to bad weather during the five designated days. During the 2019-21 WTC final, the first day completely washed out. The game then went into the reserve day.
