WTC Final 2023: India's strongest predicted XI

After two months of the Indian Premier League (IPL) action, Indian players will head to England to face Australia in the 2023 ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final. The summit clash will be held on June 7, 2023, at the Oval in London. India won the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2022-23 against the Aussies by a 2-1 margin and they will look to outclass them again on the D-Day.

Amidst the T20 action, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a 15-player squad that will lock horns with Pat Cummins and Co. at the Oval. Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer are missing from the team. Ajinkya Rahane, who played his last international match in January 2022, has made a comeback in the Indian team. For captain Rohit Sharma, the mission will be to quench India’s nine-year thirst for an ICC trophy. To pull off the strenuous task, the skipper will look to field his best XI that could get India the trophy that they have been eyeing for since the previous edition.

Discussing more, here is India’s predicted playing XI for the WTC final against Australia

1. Rohit Sharma

Captain Rohit will have to lead from the front in the marquee game. Banking on his vast experience, the team management will expect him to step up on the big day and deliver ideal starts in the match. Thus far, the veteran has piled up 3379 runs with nine tons and 14 fifties in 83 innings of his Test career.

On English surfaces, he has scored 466 runs with a hundred and a couple of half-centuries in 12 innings of six contests. The Nagpur-born batter played his last game in England, at the WTC 2023 final venue Oval. In the fourth Test of the Pataudi Trophy 2021-22, he smashed a match-winning 127 to help his team clinch the game by 157 runs. 

While talking about his record against Australia, the 35-year-old has racked up 650 runs with a ton and three half-centuries in 20 innings of 11 matches. Going through the past, there are high chances of The Oval track being batting-friendly. Noting this fact, Rohit will look to be impactful against the Aussies.