WTC Final Should Be A Cracker Of A Contest

An eventful and exciting IPL is behind us and the focus now shifts to the Oval, the venue of the World Test Championship final between India and Australia that commences on June 7. It is fitting that the two best teams are contesting the title clash reinforced by the current ICC rankings that has India at No. 1 and Australia not too far behind.

Much has been made about the Indian players having to get out of the IPL mould to prepare for a five-day Test match. In this regard the onus is more on the Indians as all of them were involved in a number of games while representing their franchisee sides while the Aussie participation in the IPL was much less.

But the players are all professionals and are aware of what is required to make the necessary adjustments and one is sure the Indians will not be found wanting.

Two years ago in the inaugural WTC final at Southampton India went down by eight wickets to New Zealand. They will hope to go one better this time and they certainly have the squad to achieve this. They will also be buoyed by the fact that earlier in the year they got the better of Australia 2-1 in a four Test series at home.

And of course there is also the encouraging factor of having got the better of the Aussies ‘Down Under’ in the memorable 2020-21 series, a triumph that must be regarded as India’s greatest away from home given the circumstances that have been well chronicled.

Coming to the present scenario, the most encouraging factor from the Indians’ viewpoint is the form displayed by Cheteshwar Pujara. While leading Sussex admirably India’s sheet anchor has also been among the runs notching up three figure scores almost at will. Both his form and his inputs will prove invaluable to the Indian squad.

The side has a well-balanced look rich on quality and experience and the batting in particular has a formidable look about it. The quintet of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane has the class and skill to master any bowling – even a strong Aussie attack.

A lot of attention will centre round Gill who has been hailed as the next big thing in Indian cricket. He has earned this sobriquet largely on his exploits in the shorter formats of the game and the just concluded IPL.

His Test stats are actually quite modest – 890 runs from 15 matches at an average of 34 with two hundreds and this all-important game gives him the opportunity to prove that he is deserving of such heady praise.

When it comes to the wicketkeeper the team’s think tank will have to decide on whether to play Ishan Kishan or K. S. Bharath. The latter has played four Tests and his glovework has been rather unimpressive even as his contribution with the bat has been modest.

Kishen at 24, and five years younger, has yet to make his Test debut but has impressed with his swashbuckling batting and his work behind the stumps in the shorter versions of the game. Perhaps the time has come to hand Kishen his Test cap.

The think tank has two options when it comes to picking the bowlers. The conventional step would be to pick three seamers and both spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

However, given the conditions in England in June when the ball seams and swings a lot the temptation will be there to go with just one of Jadeja and Ashwin and pick four fast bowlers. Whatever step is taken one only hopes it will be the right one.

The Aussies too are a well-settled and balanced outfit their only problem being the fitness of Josh Hazlewood.The experienced fast bowler had an Achilles tendon issue that restricted his IPL appearances for Royal Challengers Bangalore to only three games.

Before that he missed the entire four Test series with India in February – March and the three ODIs that followed because of fitness problems. However, Hazlewood himself is pretty confident that he will be fit for the game as it is assumed that his withdrawal from the IPL was more as a precautionary measure, with the WTC final and the Ashes series to follow in quick succession.

In any case the Aussies have a ready replacement in Scott Boland who has performed admirably in his seven Tests so far. The rest of the team pick themselves.

Mitchell Starc, skipper Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon are the other three main bowlers with all rounder Cameron Green available to lend a helping hand. David Warner, Alex Carey, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Usman Khawaja constitute a formidable batting line-up. Like Pujara Smith too has had a stint with Sussex and though not as successful as the Indian there is little doubt that the Aussies could well benefit from his inputs.

All in all the stage is set for a cracker of a final marked by high quality cricket and perhaps even a close finish. One only hopes the fickle English weather does not interfere too much with the proceedings on the field like it did two years ago!