3 issues that India need to sort out ahead of the WTC Final
We have finally discovered which two teams will contest the second edition of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final in June.
Australia had previously qualified for the main competition, but they had to wait to find out who they would face. Beginning on June 7, Australia and India will play each other at The Oval.
Both sides have performed remarkably well to secure their spots in the top match, and they will now try to advance.
India defeated Australia 2-1 in their most recent matchup for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, but the WTC Final will be a different story because of the altered playing conditions in England.
India, who are competing in their second straight World Tennis Championship Final, will be anxious to regain the mace after losing to New Zealand in 2021. However, for that to happen, the Indians, led by Rohit Sharma, must fine-tune a few things.
Here, we look at three issues that India needs to sort out ahead of the WTC Final.
#1 Bowling combination in the WTC final
The biggest concern for India that will give sleepless nights to the captain and coach is the correct bowling combination for the summit clash.
In the 2021 WTC Final, India went in with 2 spinners and 3 pacers, which cost them big time as the spinners were quite ineffective. It will be interesting to see if India makes a similar move this time.
If India go in with a 4-1 combination, they will need to choose between Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami should be automatic choices but India will need to decide who the other two pacers are. The options India have are Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and Jaydev Unadkat.
#2 Shreyas Iyer's fitness
Shreyas Iyer missed the first two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Series due to a back issue that seemed to have been resolved when he made a comeback in the second game.
However, he was down once again during the final Test match in Ahmedabad and did not turn up to bat either. Post-game, Rohit Sharma did not sound too optimistic about Iyer's condition.
India will be sweating on the Mumbaikar's fitness as he has been quite good for India since making his Test debut in 2021.
Iyer is an important part of India's middle order, and if he is unavailable, Suryakumar Yadav might come into the discussion.
#3 The wicketkeeper's conundrum
KS Bharat made his Test debut in the opening game of the Border-Gavaskar series in Nagpur. He went on to feature in all four games of the series.
He didn't have a great series with the bat, scoring just 101 runs in six innings. Bharat's wicket-keeping also degraded as the series went on, which is a bigger concern.
India will have to decide whether they want to continue with KS Bharat for the big game or take a punt on Ishan Kishan, who has a game similar to India's premier test wicket-keeper, Rishabh Pant.