India are set to take on Australia in the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) that begins on June 7 at Kia Oval in the south of London, England.
India are playing their second successive WTC final, having made it to the summit clash after finishing at the top of the standings at the end of the 2019-2021 cycle. They faced New Zealand, but ultimately lost the game. This time, Rohit Sharma and Co. will be keen on winning the coveted WTC crown.
In this article, we will take a look at India's squad and discuss the three talking points as the WTC fever kicks on.
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The return of Ajinkya Rahane
It's funny how sports works sometimes. You can be a hero one day and a nobody the next day. Rahane's story is somewhat similar. Dropped from the Test squad following India's tour of South Africa in 2022, it seemed like Rahane's international career was over.
Shreyas Iyer staked his claim as the go-to batsman at No. 5, where Rahane played for India. As unpredictable and coincidental as it was, Iyer injured himself before IPL 2023 began, while Rahane was roped in by the Chennai Super Kings.
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Rahane scored 326 runs for CSK at a strike rate of over 170, paving his way back into the Indian Test fold. And he is almost certain to earn his place back at No. 5 in the lineup.
The soon to-be 35-year-old has played 15 Tests in England, scoring 729 runs at a mediocre average of 26.03. If his form in the IPL was anything to go by, he'll fortify the middle order that will miss the services of Rishabh Pant.
Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma - will the opening duo click?
Against a bowling attack comprising of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood, Gill and Rohit will have a tricky time as their credentials will be tested against the new ball in swinging conditions in England.
Gill, although coming off a brilliant IPL and perhaps the most in-form Indian player at the moment, is relatively inexperienced when it comes to playing red-ball cricket in England.
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He has played just two Tests in England, scoring 57 runs in four innings with a highest score of 28. For all of Gill's exploits in the past nine months or so, facing the Starc-Hazlewood-Cummins trio with the new ball in England is an entirely different ball game.
On the other hand, Rohit has struggled with form. He wasn't at his best in the IPL. That's not to say that he will perform poorly in the WTC final. The 36-year-old has a century and two half-centuries in six Tests in England, aggregating 466 runs at an average of 42.36.
Sharma and Gill have opened the innings for India on 15 occasions, scoring 540 runs, averaging 38.57. Their highest stand so far in 74, recorded against Australia in the fourth Test of the 2022-23 Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. India will hope the two can provide them with good starts.
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Four fast bowlers or two spinners?
The biggest uncertainty heading into this game is whether India will opt for four pacers or two spinners.
When you have the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin in your ranks, any captain will be in a big dilemma. If recent history is taken into account, though, Ashwin could be the one who doesn't make the playing XI.
That begs the question, who would you play as the fourth seamer? Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj are indispensable and will be expected to make inroads with the new ball in Jasprit Bumrah's absence. One of Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat is likely be the third seamer.
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The more prudent thing to do, then, would be to play Shardul Thakur as the fourth seamer. He is a handy batsman lower down the order, although his figures with the ball in Test cricket are not exactly the best.
Then, would India play Shardul, a fourth seamer but not that reliable with either bat or ball in Tests, or Ashwin, who would come in at the expense of a fourth seamer but bring in reliability with the bat? It's a decision that could decide India's fate in the game.
