According to reports, BCCI has selected Sarfaraz Khan, Ishan Kishan, Mukesh Kumar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Navdeep Saini as standby players for the marquee World Test Championship final against Australia starting on June 7 at the Oval. These players would be part of the team and help the team prepare for the prestigious event in England.
BCCI announced the 15-men squad for World Test Championship final on Tuesday, with Mumbai boys Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur making a stunning return to the squad for the one-off match against Australia on June 7.
As per the reports India has gone Sarfaraz and Gaikwad are specialist batters, Saini and Kumar as pace-bowling options, and Kishan as a wicketkeeper-batter in the standby roles.
Sarfaraz Khan scored 556 runs in 6 games last season with the help of three centuries and an average of more than 90. Since the 2019-20 season, the Mumbai star has scored a staggering 2970 runs from 26 matches (12 centuries, seven half-centuries) at an average of 106.07.
Similarly, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mukesh Kumar have done very well in the domestic circuit to earn their spots as stand-by players.
BCCI official has stated the Indian team might play a multi-day warm-up match ahead of the WTC final and players not featuring in the IPL playoffs will depart for the UK in advance to accommodate better for the England conditions.
India Will Look To End Their ICC Title Drought In World Test Championship
It will be interesting to see the playing XI with which Team India will go for the WTC Final 2023 at Oval against the Aussies (IND vs AUS), surely there will be some changes from the last test match played at Ahmedabad, as both the surface are different.
According to reports in Times Of India, Former Indian skipper MS Dhoni’s input was taken by the Indian team management before the selection of him in the team, as Rahane make it to the squad after a gap of a year.
India will take on Australia in the 2023 World Test Championship Final at Kensington Oval on June 7, 2023, with a reserve day on June 12, and will look to end the ICC title drought in England. Team India lost the inaugural edition of the WTC Final in 2021 against New Zealand.
India’s Squad for WTC Final:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.