KL Rahul, Axar Patel dropped; pacer returns: India's predicted squad for Test Championship final vs Australia

March 18,2023

Rohit Sharma-led Team India will take on Pat Cummins' Australia in the final of the World Test Championship at the Oval from June 7 to 11. Both the teams confirmed their place in the final of the ICC event during the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy and the fans are anxiously waiting for the one-off fixture. India lost to New Zealand in the 2021 World Test Championship final.

India might make a couple of changes to their squad which played against Australia while Australia might not have many changes. KL Rahul and Axar Patel could be dropped from the Test squad while a pacer might be on his way back. As the fans wait for the BCCI's announcement, here's a look at Team India's predicted squad for the World Test Championship final.

Openers

Openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill are confirmed to keep their spots. Since KL Rahul has struggled for runs in red-ball cricket since the start of 2022, he looks all but set to be dropped. Abhimanyu Easwaran has scored plenty of runs and might earn another call-up to the Test squad.

He was part of the Test squad for the Bangladesh tour but didn't get a chance to make his debut there. He made it to the Test squad before the Bangladesh series as well.

Middle-order

Cheteshwar Pujara has been in form since his comeback to the Test team and will have a key role to play in the WTC final. Virat Kohli too will look to keep going. The former India captain ended his long wait for a century in Test cricket and played a crucial 186-run knock in the 4th Test match against Australia. Shreyas Iyer will be fine by the WTC final and should be on the plane to England.

All-rounders

There are no doubts over R Ashwin's and Ravindra Jadeja's spots in the squad. But only one of them is expected to play. Given that Jadeja's batting skills are better than Ashwin's, he might get the nod. Axar Patel, the third all-rounder in the series against Australia, is likely to be dropped as India will need more pacers than slow bowlers.

Wicketkeepers

No doubts here. Ishan Kishan and KS Bharat will be India's wicketkeepers in the WTC final. Bharat played a couple of crucial knocks in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and has an edge over Ishan.

Bowlers

Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur are expected to be five pacers in Team India's squad. Shami, Siraj, Umesh and Unadkat are confirmed selections in the squad while Shardul is expected to replace Axar.

Given his bowling and batting skills, Shardul is a vital member of Team India on overseas tours and he might make his Test comeback, replacing Axar Patel.

India's predicted squad for World Test Championship final against Australia: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Cheteshwar Pujara Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishan Kishan (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat