IND Vs AUS WTC Final: Team India has reached the second back-to-back finals of the World Test Championship (WTC). After 2021, India reached the finals of the 2023 WTC as well.
India won the home series against Australia by a margin of 2-1 and booked another clash with them. India will play their fifth Test match against the Aussies in 2023.
The Ultimate Test match between Australia and India will be played at The Oval in London. This WTC Final 2023 Test match will start from Wednesday, 7th June 2023 to Sunday 11th June 2023 and Monday, 12th June 2023 has been kept as the reserve day.
After the TATA IPL 2023 season is over, Team India has landed in England for this ICC marquee event of the red ball format.
In 2021, India played against New Zealand and lost that Test match. There were few Indian players who were part of that squad but they have not been named in the current squad of the WTC Final in 2023.
Today, in this segment, we will name those three players from the men in blue side who are missing this one-off test match against Australia in England.
1. Ishant Sharma
The most experienced pace bowler of India’s Test team hasn’t been named in the current squad for the WTC Final in 2023.
Ishant Sharma is a right arm medium fast bowler who has played more than 100 red ball games for the country and in those matches, he has picked up more than 300 Test wickets.
In the recently concluded TATA IPL 2023, Sharma did well for his franchise side Delhi Capitals. Ishant picked up three wickets in that game against The Kiwis in the finals of 2021 WTC.
Team India will miss Rishabh Pant in this ultimate Test match. He has made such an extraordinary influence on the team and he has even stepped up on bigger occasions.
Pant was part of the WTC 2021 Final which was played at The Rose Bowl in Southampton. Pant has been a brilliant keeper batter in all three formats for the men in blue side.
But in the 2021 WTC Final, Rishabh didn’t had the best outing as he managed to score just 4 runs in the 1st innings and he scored 41 runs in the second innings. KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan are his replacement for this one-off test event.
India would have ideally loved to have Boom Boom Bumrah in this WTC 2023 Final squad. But sadly, Jasprit cannot participate because of an injury. Bumrah has been a go-to man in all three formats.
His absence might turn out to be a decisive factor and the conditions in England also suits his style of bowling. But in the 2021 WTC Final, Bumrah didn’t do that well when India played its maiden Final.
He couldn’t pick up a single wicket in both innings when the Kiwis batted. In the 1st innings, Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers with a four-wicket haul.
He was joined by Ishant Sharma with three wickets, Ravi Ashwin got two scalps and Ravindra Jadeja got 1 wicket. In the second innings of that red ball game, it was only Ravichandran Ashwin who struck twice when India had to defend just 139 runs to win that final.
