Build up to the #WTC23 Final

- By Anirudha R Nijagal

The World Test Championship cycle 2022-23 has been an exciting journey. India and Australia - the statistical giants of world cricket has once again ended up on top. They play against each other fighting for the prestigious Test Mace.

With India qualifying to Finals of WTC for the 2nd consecutive year, they are proven champions of this format. Australia on the other side have been very good this time around, while they had missed the finals in the previous championship to New Zealand by an inch.

The Injury woes

With the #WTC23 final 1 day away, the

India camp is near struggling. The Indian camp will definitely miss the services of players who have been very consistent off late.

The Indian camp will feel the absence of the explosive wk-batter Rishab Pant and the stylish right handed middle order batter Shreyas Iyer. The void of these two players are big to fill in. But the Indian selection committe has gone back to the old warhorses of the Indian Test side. It is tough to admit that it was the inability of the selection camp who couldn't find replacements for the explosive middle order and have gone in with the so called "tired legs". But it becomes a fact if the Indian middle order fails to deliver.

English conditions are known to be fast bowler friendly wickets. Indian team are going into the Final without their star bowler who has dominated world cricket.

The Mumbai Indians star Jasprit Bumrah has been out of action since September last year. The injury seems to be recurring and him returning to his best could be delayed even further.

The Middle Order

The experiencd Indian middle order is coming into the Final with some runs behind their back. Ajinkya Rahane & Cheteshwar Pujara who were out of the team have managed to crawl back into the side with runs in first class cricket and county respectively. Pujara has had a fantastic stint as a captain with Sussex. While the return of Virat Kohli in all formats has been a fairytale that can be etched in the history books of World Cricket. The middle order looks settled even if any one of these 3 stalwarts gets going.

The Middle Order without Rishab Pant looks like cake without cherry on top of it. The batsman who won us the historic series in Australia - The BGT 2021. Rishab Pant has revolutionalised batting in test cricket and will be a huge void to fill in the team.

The Spinners Conundrum

India is lucky and blessed with some extra ordinary spinners since decades. This time around, having two ultimate Champions in the squad has ironically been challenging for the Indian management. The Indian management has been facing "The tactical way" vs "The Emotional way" as they have to decide to play both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja or only one of them, mostly Jadeja. The pacer friendly wickets tells you to play only Jadeja and

the stats and emotions tell you to play Ashwin & Jadeja as Ashwin can adopt and pick wickets on any given track. The two pacers pick themselves - Shami & Siraj. The other option for them is playing both Shardul & Unadkat by opting out Ashwin. The combination involving Ashwin will rule Unadkat out of contention. Will have to wait and see what combination India would decide to go in with....

India have had rich history, majorly after 2014.

9 years ago, Indian Cricket was redefined, revolutionalised and reimagined. A win in the Finals this time will add a feather on top of India's crown.