India and Australia are getting ready for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) at the Kennington Oval, which starts today. All eyes will be on the weather.
When India played in the WTC final in Southampton two years ago, rain was a big factor. The Indian hitters had a hard time when New Zealand’s fast bowlers used the cloudy weather to their advantage. In the end, the Kiwis won by eight runs and took the mace with them.
This time around, it’s not going to happen. There won’t be any rain in London for the next five days, and there won’t be many clouds. The players will be cold, though, because the weather will be on the low side. It will be between 17 and 20 degrees Celsius, but it will feel like it is two to three degrees cooler than that.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has set aside a sixth day to decide the winner of the WTC final if rain stops play during the match.
It will be interesting to see how the two best test teams in the world match up. Australia has recently lost to India, but Pat Cummins and his team are not easy to beat. They came in first place and will do everything they can to bring the mace home.
India and Australia squads for WTC final
Australia: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk.), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk.), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, and David Warner.
Standby players: Mitch Marsh and Matthew Renshaw.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, and Ishan Kishan (wk).
Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, and Suryakumar Yadav.
