India Takes On Australia in World Test Championship Final
India captain Rohit Sharma has won the toss and elected to bowl first in the ICC World Test Championship Final at The Oval.
With overcast conditions surrounding the south London venue and a tinge of grass remaining on the pitch, Rohit decided to take advantage and send the Aussies in and try and gain an early edge in the one-off Test.
Australia went in as expected with Scott Boland named to replace injured pacer Josh Hazlewood, while India left out Ashwin from their final XI and instead opted for a pace attack consisting of Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav and all-rounder Shardul Thakur.
No rain is expected in London on Wednesday, with a big crowd already in attendance and looking forward to see the two highest-ranked Test nations in action.
The combination of a green tinge to the pitch and England’s variable overhead weather conditions has persuaded the India selectors to leave out Ashwin and stick with Ravindra Jadeja as the sole spinner – the same approach that they used against England in similar conditions in 2021 and 2022.
India’s decision to play both spinners in their team two years ago was seen as a selection error in retrospect, with heavy cloud cover and plenty of rain reducing the impact of spin in the WTC21 Final against New Zealand.
Ashwin was subsequently an unused member of the squad when India toured England in the latest WTC cycle, and the selectors have opted to continue with that policy.
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