WTC Final 2023: Best Squad Players List for India vs Australia
Rohit Sharma to lead as we look at the best predicted World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final squad and players list for India vs Australia.
The Indian Cricket Team is currently busy playing the hottest T20 league in the world, the Indian Premier League. Except for Cheteswar Pujara, who is a definite for the Test series squad and is playing county cricket in England, all the other WTC final probable players are busy playing IPL 2023.
The World Test Championship final 2023 is scheduled to take place from June 7 to June 11 at The Oval, London. Even as the tournament is still a month and a half away, BCCI and Australia will already be contemplating the players that are expected to be a part of the WTC final.
While Australia have already named a 17-member squad, which will be trimmed down to only 15 official players, India would be in the planning stage to finalize the squad. It won’t be an easy job for BCCI as three of their first-choice players would be missing the WTC final due to injury.
So, with all the calculations and insights, let’s look at the best predicted 15-member squad and players list for Team India for the WTC Final 2023 vs Australia. Important to note that India may shortlist around 18-20 players, but in the end, only 15 can travel to England as per the squad policy for the WTC final.
Team India’s Predicted WTC Squad
Openers
India would be selecting the same trio of openers that played the last test series vs Australia. So, we should see Captain Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and KL Rahul as the first-choice openers in the squad. However, it may so happen that KL Rahul plays at number 5 in the final in place of Shreyas Iyer.
Middle-order
Coming to the middle-order, Shreyas Iyer will miss the WTC final as he will be undergoing surgery; thus would be needing time to recover. However, with India needing only 15 members in the squad, it’s unlikely India would be naming any replacement for him. There are discussions going on to select Rahane, but the move remains unlikely.
Even without Shreyas Iyer, India have three more strong middle-order options in the form of Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Suryakumar Yadav. Of the three, Pujara and Kohli would definitely feature in the playing 11, But for the number 5 position, India would contemplate selecting one of Suryakumar Yadav or KL Rahul.
Wicket-keepers:
For the wicket-keeper slot, India’s best wicket-keeper, Rishabh Pant will miss the WTC final as he still needs a few more months to recover. So, without Rishabh Pant, India would keep the same wicket-keeping duo of KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan. Of the two, KS Bharat shall remain the first-choice keeping option.
Spinners:
Talking about bowlers, India would select a combination of 5 pacers and 2 spinners; the move we had seen in WTC 2021 final as well. With Jasprit Bumrah expected to miss the WTC final, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav shall remain as the top-choice pacers of the squad.
Other than these three, Jaydev Unadkat and Shardul Thakur shall be the other two pace options. While Jaydev Unadkat has now represented India Whites in the last two series, Shardul Thakur has an excellent record at the Oval, and should get a spot in the final 15. Other than these five, it looks difficult for India to select any more pacers.
Finally, talking about the spinners, India should not select more than two in the squad. That means, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin shall be the two spinners in the squad. Whereas Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav may not add much value for the WTC final, so should not get a go.
WTC Final 2023: Best Predicted Squad and Players List for Team India
Batters: Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma [c], Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav & Virat Kohli
Wks: Ishan Kishan & KS Bharat
All-rounders: Ravichandran Ashwin & Ravindra Jadeja
Bowlers: Jaydev Unadkat, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur & Umesh Yadav
So, that’s about the best squad and players list for Team India for the WTC Final 2023 vs Australia. Overall, the 15-member squad should see 6 batters, 2 wicket-keepers, 2 spinners, and 5 pacers in the squad. In case of any injury concerns, we should see India select the new player from the probable 20 players list.
Australia, meanwhile have finalized a 17-member squad for the WTC final, which would then get shortlisted to the final 15-member squad. From the 17 members, as shown below, we should most likely see Todd Murphy and Mitchell Marsh being left out for the WTC final. These two will then join the Australia squad for the Ashes.
WTC Final 2023: Short-listed 17-Member Squad and Players List for Australia
Batters: David Warner, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Harris, Steve Smith, Travis Head & Usman Khawaja
Wks: Alex Carey & Josh Inglis
All-rounders: Cameron Green & Mitchell Marsh
Bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Pat Cummins [c], Scott Boland, Todd Murphy
Thanks for reading! What’s your squad for Team India for the WTC 2023 final vs Australia? Please email your comments to business@cricalytics.com
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Adesh Kothari is the founder of AK4Tsay1 Cricalytics with over 20 years of experience following Cricket.
Cricket to him is like what Football is to Lionel Messi, Singing is to Lata Mangeshkar, Dancing is to Michael Jackson, and Acting is to Clint Eastwood.
Besides his effervescent love for Cricket, Adesh is an MBA by qualification.
