Last Updated: June 07, 2023, 4:06 PM IST
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IND vs AUS, WTC Final: India captain Rohit Sharma and Australia skipper Pat Cummins at the toss (Twitter/BCCI)
Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first as Ravichandran Ashwin was not named in India’s playing XI for the World Test Champions final against Australia
Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided India will bowl first against Pat Cummins’ Australia in the World Test Champions (WTC) final at the Oval in London on Wednesday.
WTC Final 2023: IND vs AUS, Day 1 – LIVE
Rohit Sharma after winning the toss said that India have gone in with four seamers and one spinner, as Ravichandran Ashwin missed out.
“We are going to bowl. The conditions and also the weather being overcast. The pitch won’t change too much. Four seamers and one spinner. The spinner is Jadeja. It’s always tough (to leave Ashwin), he’s been a match-winner. He (Rahane) brings a lot of experience, he’s played 80-odd Tests,” Rohit said after winning the toss.
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Pat Cummins said Australia would also have opted to field first if they had won the toss.
“We would have bowled as well. Hopefully day four and five, there’s a bit of spin. You think it suits his bowling, he’ll be a key weapon. We’ve been here for about 10 days. Pretty fresh, weather has been nice, we haven’t missed a session, feeling good,” Pat Cummins said at the toss.
Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (c), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland #WTC23— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 7, 2023
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India has been one of the most consistent teams over the past two WTC cycles, managing to also reach the knockout phases of major white-ball tournaments over the last 10 years but a trophy has eluded them. On the other hand, Australia will be looking to add to their enviable collection of world titles after missing a spot in the WTC final last cycle.
As far as the competition between the two sides is concerned, India have dominated Australia in the recent past. They have won their last four Test series against Australia — two at home and two away — all by 2-1 margins.
IND vs AUS Playing XIs:
India – Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia – David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
(With inputs from Agencies)
