The Indian cricket team will take on Australia in the marquee World Test Championship (WTC) final 2023 from June 7-11 at the Kennington Oval in London.
Led by captain Rohit Sharma, Team India qualified for their second consecutive WTC final after finishing second in the WTC 2021-23 points table with 58.8 points per cent (PCT) in 18 Tests.
India started their WTC 2021-23 cycle with a 2-2 series draw against England, before defeating New Zealand 1-0 at home. They, however, suffered a setback after going down 1-2 against the Proteas in South Africa. Rohit Sharma’s men later bounced back to beat Sri Lanka (2-0), Bangladesh (2-0) and Australia (2-1) to storm into the WTC Final 2023.
Earlier, Virat Kohli-led India lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in the WTC Final 2021 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
On the other hand, Australia secured their place in the WTC Final 2023 after topping the WTC 2021-23 points table with 66.67 PCT in 19 matches.
Under the leadership of Pat Cummins, the Australians registered 11 wins, suffered three defeats and had five draws during the WTC 2021-23 cycle.
The likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane will play a key role in India’s batting department against Australia’s much-famed pace attack, comprising Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Cameron Green.
However, Australia have suffered a massive blow as right-arm fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has been ruled out of the WTC final due to an injury. Michael Neser has been named Hazlewood’s replacement in the squad.
India will also miss the services of bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah. In the absence of Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav will aim to trouble the Australian batting line-up.
Meanwhile, the India vs Australia WTC final will be played with Grade 1 Dukes ball.
There is a reserve day (June 12) to compensate for the loss of overs due to inclement weather.
In case of a draw or tie, India and Australia will share the trophy.
Where to watch India vs Australia WTC Final 2023 live?
The India vs Australia WTC Final 2023 will be telecast live on the Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 HD TV channels in India. The match will also be broadcast live on Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Hindi HD, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Telugu and Star Sports 1 Kannada.
Live streaming of the India vs Australia WTC Final 2023 will be available on Disney+ Hotstar. Get live scores here. The match is scheduled to start at 3:00 PM IST.
India vs Australia WTC Final 2023 squads
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Srikar Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Steven Smith, David Warner, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wicket-keeper), Josh Inglis (wicket-keeper), Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Mitchell Starc, Michael Neser
Photo credit: Alamy