🏏 WTC Final 2023, India vs Australia: Kennington Oval, London 🏏

🏏 WTC Final 2023, India vs Australia: Kennington Oval, London 🏏

The stage is set as Team India and Australia are ready to face each other at the Oval in London for the World Test Championship final. The action will begin at 3 p.m. (IST).

Team India is facing off against Australia in the World Test Champions (WTC) Final for the 2021–23 cycle at the Oval stadium in London, starting today.  India is bidding for their first ICC trophy after a gap of almost 10 years, having last won the 2013 Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni.

Australia is playing the WTC Final for the first time, but will be hoping to add the WTC title to their trophy cabinet, having already won the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy titles in the past. India is playing in their second successive WTC Final, but will be hoping for a different result from the last time, when they lost to New Zealand at Lord’s. 

India will be headed by Rohit Sharma, who is going to try to surpass Ajinkya Rahane and Sourav Ganguly's record of most Test victories over Australia. The Australians will be captained by Pat Cummins, who will try to revenge the Border-Gavaskar Trophy defeat in India.
The second World Test Championship Final is upon us as the two most consistent Test teams over the last two years clash for a trophy that, despite fighting for relevance and context, remains a world title that neither have won. 

India, of course, fell short two years ago against an inspired New Zealand outfit in Southampton, while Australia didn't even make it that far. And the two finalists have had two very different journeys to get to this point. While India has largely been in a rebuilding stage under Rohit Sharma following the end of the Kohli captaincy era, Australia have built itself up under Cummins after parting ways with Tim Paine. 

As it turns out, India have played quite a bit in England in this current cycle, having had their five-match Test series in 2021 spread over two years.

 Australia, meanwhile, has the luxury of being in England on an 'Ashes' tour for a whole two weeks without having to obsess solely on England.

All the best for the WTC Final to India team! Bleed blue 💙💙💙💙

Thanks for the thread and tag, Madz!🤗

IND vs AUS WTC Final --Day 1: Win-loss ratio

At The Oval, both Australia and India boast a remarkably similar win-loss ratios. Australia has emerged victorious in seven matches and suffered defeat in 17 out of the 38 Tests played at this venue, resulting in a win-loss ratio of 0.411. Similarly, India has won two matches and lost five out of their 14 Test encounters, giving them a win-loss ratio of 0.400.

Steven Smith has displayed exceptional performance in three Tests at The Oval, accumulating 391 runs at an impressive average of 97.75. During these matches, he achieved two centuries and an 80 in a total of five innings.

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Yes, today is the birthday of one of our wonderful, adorable, and diligent *Jayshree*!!!She is always willing to assist! She is always aware of what is going on in, IF so if  any help is required, she can definitely get the job done quickly!!! She's a behind-the-scenes worker who is in charge of creating new forums and uploading banners for us.

Let us greet this full-time workaholic, whom we've seen online at 2 a.m. on Sundays, with a Happy Birthday wish

May the love you have shown to others

Return to you, multiplied.

I wish you the happiest of birthdays,

And many, many more,

So that others have time to appreciate you

As much as I do.

Jayshree bd post

When you were born, God bestowed a gift on the IF world

Someone who loves and cares 

Who understands and meets a member's needs 

Who motivates and inspires others, 

Who devotes time and effort to others  

I'm wishing you another year 

Of laughter, joy and fun, 

Surprises, love and happiness, 

Experiences great and small 

That have shaped you into who you are.

May the love you have shown to others 

Return to you, multiplied.

I wish you the happiest of birthdays, 

And many, many more, 

So that others have time to appreciate you 

As much as I do.

Yes, today is the birthday of one of our wonderful, adorable, and diligent Jayshree! She is always willing to help! 

She is always aware of what is going on in IF, if any help is required, she can definitely get the job done 

quickly!!! 

She's a behind-the-scenes worker who is in charge of creating new forums and uploading banners for us.❤️

JAYSHREE

I like your passion and enthusiasm for the India Forums, as you inspire many others.

I like your work ethic and the fact that you never take credit for all that you have done and are 

doing for the IF.

Let us greet this full-time workaholic, whom we've seen online at 2 a.m. on Sundays, with a Happy 

Birthday wish. 

Happy Birthday,JAYSHREE

finally time for some TEST MATCH ACTION 

 Full Squads

Australia Squad: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland, Josh Inglis, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Marcus Harris

India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat(w), Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jaydev Unadkat

Pure bliss to watch calculated risks taken by both captains to outsmart the other. 

Well said, Paresh Bhai.❤️ 

Milestone For Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli is just 21 runs away from joining the elite group of Indian batsmen who have scored 2000 Test runs against Australia. Sachin Tendulkar leads with 3630 runs, followed by VVS Laxman (2434), Rahul Dravid (2143), and Cheteshwar Pujara (2033).

 India On Top

In their most recent encounters, India emerged victorious in their last four Test series against Australia. These triumphs were achieved through a combination of home-ground advantage and a way triumphs, with each series concluding in a 2-1 scoreline in favour of India.

Pitch Report

Over the past decade, The Oval has proven to be a favourable pitch for scoring runs. Amongst seven grounds including Lord's, Old Trafford, Headingley, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston, and Rose Bowl, it boasts the third-highest runs per over at 3.39. Nevertheless, the bowlers also find some assistance on this pitch. On average, a wicket falls every 54 balls or after 30 runs. In the first two innings, teams rely on pace bowlers to take wickets and limit the run flow, with an average of 27.51, an economy rate of 3.19, and a strike rate of 51.45.

As the match progresses, spinners come into play in the next two innings, taking wickets every 50 balls on average at an impressive average of 26.57. Overall, The Oval has proven to be the most fruitful ground for spinners in terms of strike rate (58.8), second-best average (32.31), and third-best economy (3.29) among the seven grounds over the last decade.

 Weather Report

“Mostly sunny and delightful”, according to accuweather.com. The big match should not have any interruption and fans can expect a rain-free Day 1 of the 5-day Test game. The cloud cover is expected to be around 22 percent.