World Test Championship 2023: How India qualified for cricket’s Test final
India managed to secure the final spot in the Test World Cup with a 2-1 win on home soil over Australia.
The Aussies had already secured a spot in the coveted final, securing an unlikely 9-wicket win over India at Indore in the third Test. India’s place in the final required either a win or a draw in the final in Ahmedabad.
Rohit Sharma’s men did not have their fate entirely in their own hands. Sri Lanka were the other team battling for the final but had to cleanly beat the Kiwis in their two-game streak in New Zealand. In a final ball thriller hampered by rain and fading light, New Zealand didn’t win out by 2 wickets thanks to Kane Williamson’s 121.
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With the Black Caps winning, Sri Lanka just missed out on the final. A tie in the fourth test was enough to put India into their second World Test Championship final, to be played at the Oval against Australia on June 7-11.
India will seek to avenge the misery of the first-ever edition of the Test World Cup in 2021 at the historic home of the Cricket Lords after losing to New Zealand by 8 wickets.
ICC agreements and commercial deals have made it difficult for Lords to host the Show Piece events as they have been relocated to The Oval. The change of venue could be India’s biggest win as they clinched a resounding win over England last time out.
New Indian captain Rohit Sharma was the star of the show, storming England with 157 carries in swing-friendly conditions with 127 second innings. The composition of the Indian squad for the final would look very different from the team that faced Australia.
World-class spinners Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin would struggle to pack for England. Ravindra Jadeja would likely be called to the side as a batting bowler rather than a specialist bowling option.
Shardul Thakur, who has also toured England regularly with the Indian side, would appear as part of a four-pronged tempo attack featuring Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj. India’s swing king has suffered a major blow for 2023 as Jasprit Bumrah will miss much of the year with a back injury. The BCCI has also confirmed that he will definitely miss the test.
The most glaring error in the Indian lineup was behind the stumps. KS Bharat has had to fill in the big shoes of Rishabh Pant who was involved in a violent car accident and has ruled out a large part of the cricket match this year.
Bharat was unable to adjust his holding and hitting to the conditions as he failed to make catches and affected the scoreboard in a detrimental way for Pant. Bharat played a daring 44/88 with three sixes and two fours, but his best was few and far between. Ishan Kishan is emerging as England’s band-aid solution to fill a void. Kishan is yet to make his Test-level debut for In India but could bring a sense of youthful exuberance to the side.
The road to the final will be filled with white ball cricket when India take on Australia in what some are calling three irrelevant one-day matches in Mumbai starting Friday. The matches will offer fans a glimpse of the line-up and pitch conditions of both sides ahead of the one-day World Cup in India later in the year.
The 50-over series leads into the glamorous IPL season which is professional cricket’s final hit before meeting Australia at the Oval.
Several Red Ball cricketers have chosen to hone their craft and take full advantage of English county cricket. Indian number three Cheteshwar Pujara has chosen Sussex as his target of choice in the English domestic competition.
The 35-year-old will join forces with former Australia captain Steve Smith to get a better understanding of England. Former deputy skipper Ajinkya Rahane is also looking to make a name for himself in the English county of Leicestershire.