WTC final to be played with Dukes ball, confirms ICC

The countdown to the final of the World Test Championship 2023 has begun as India and Australia will be locking horns in the summit clash at The Oval from June 7. It will be India’s second consecutive appearance in the WTC final after they lost to New Zealand in June 2021. 

Both India and Australia have announced their squads for the big game at the neutral venue. Meanwhile, the ball being used for the final will also be different from the ones that are used in their native countries. While SG balls are used for Tests in India, Australia use the Kookaburra balls.

ICC uses the ball of “host country” for the event and hence in this case, the final will be played with the Dukes, which are used in England. 

“For all ICC events, the ICC uses the ball of choice of our host country so in this case, the ball for the WTC Final will be Dukes which is used in England,” an ICC source was quoted as saying by News18.

To prepare for the final, Indian captain Rohit Sharma had said that the fast bowlers featuring in the WTC final would be given the Dukes ball to practice during the IPL 2023.

“We are sending some Duke balls to all fast bowlers and if they get some time to bowl with that but again it all depend on individuals, guys who will be part of the final are not the guys who have not played in the UK and maybe one or two guys here and there and rest all of us have played in that part of the world. I don’t think it will be a huge problem. But yeah, look I believe in preparation and preparations will be key for us come the Final,” Rohit had said after the drawn fourth Test vs Australia in March 2023.

Meanwhile, Indian team members have started arriving in London for the summit clash, with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal having flown in following their IPL teams' exit from the tournament. CSK and GT's WTC final-bound players have also flown to the UK after the culmination of the final, which CSK won by five wickets to lift their fifth title. Meanwhile, star India batter Cheteshwar Pujara reached England much early for playing County Championship for Sussex. Pujara has got his preparations up and running and has already hit a hundred in the opening match of the season while leading Sussex this year.