WTC 2023 Final: The buzz around the TATA IPL 2023 season is so much that many Indian Cricket Fans might have forgotten that Team India has a bigger mission to achieve in the upcoming two months.
The men in the blue side are in the finalists yet again in the World Test Championship. This is the second time that India has reached the final position of the ICC mega event of the red ball format.
India was the runner-up in the 2021 WTC Final, which they lost against New Zealand. Now they are in a similar position once again and they will face a team who is a master of the seam and swinging conditions of England. Australia will look to rub off their loss in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 by winning this must-win match.
That’s why the Aussies have rested their fast bowling core from the ongoing IPL edition.
These pace bowlers will create havoc against the Indian Team batters in England and team India will also miss their key players in the final as well.
The team without Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Shreyas Iyer doesn’t look like a settled unit.
So, there will be replacements for these three crucial players of Team India. Rohit and Co will take on Cummins and his men in the WTC Final 2023 at The Oval from 7th June 2023 to 11th June 2023 and 12th June 2023 has been kept as a reserve day.
India has another golden chance to lift an ICC Trophy after ten years. Their last ICC title was in England itself when MS Dhoni won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013.
The Karnataka batter might be seen behind the stumps for the WTC 2023 Final. Rahul has been a good keeper in the limited-overs format and he can be the keeper-batsman in this one-off Test match as well.
Even Sunil Gavaskar said that KL Rahul can replace Rishabh Pant in the final match WTC. If Gill and Rohit open the innings, then Rahul can also bat at number four and he has the experience to bat at that number.
Rahul scored a century as well batting in the middle-order position when India toured England in 2018.
The former vice-captain of the Indian Test Team had even led India to one of the greatest triumphs in Australia in 2021. But he is out of form in the red ball matches and so he has lost his place.
But India should consider him especially when Shreyas Iyer is not available. Rahane had scored a century on a green pitch at Lords when India won the match in 2014 and one can’t take away his experience which will help the team to face the mighty pace bowlers of Australia.
Bhuvi too has lost his place in all three formats after the T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia.
He was part of the ODI Team under MS Dhoni when India won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and he gave vital contributions with ball and bat in that Lord's Test match which Team India won.
His inclusion will certainly lengthen the batting as Bhuvi has also scored a half-century in England and as a swing bowler, Kumar can make an impact with the new ball without Jasprit Bumrah.
A Test debut can be in line for the young pace bowler Arshdeep Singh. India will certainly miss Boom Boom Bumrah for the WTC 2023 Final. That is why Arshdeep can be a good replacement for Jasprit.
He would like to bowl in the conditions of England which will suit the pace and swing bowlers the most.
Singh can share a deadly combination of new ball attacks with Mohammed Shami which would prove nasty for the Aussie batters.
