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SPORTS JUNE 09, 2023 | The Indian Eye 42

India face Australia in crucial

Test final as players return to game

after IPL 2023

The WTC final has been scheduled from June 7-11 at the Oval in London;
June 12 has been set as a reserve day in the event of rain

OUR BUREAU
if India are going to win this game,”
London Ponting said to ICC.
“When you talk to the Australian
he Indian Test squad for the batters as well, they understand how
World Test Championship
T(WTC) final against Australia good Shami is whether it’s new ball or
old ball, whether it’s in Australia or
have hit full practice mode ahead of India,” the Former Australian crick-
the marquee clash at the iconic Oval eter said.
on June 7. The official Twitter handle In the recently concluded Indian
of the Board of Control for Cricket in Premier League (IPL) 2023, Shami
India (BCCI) shared a few pictures performed outstandingly well, he was
of the Indian stars Ravindra Jadeja, awarded ‘Purple Cap’ for his clobber-
Ajinkya Rahane, Shubman Gill and ing bowling. He had taken 28 wickets
Suryakumar Yadav going through in the season with an economy of
their paces before the big encounter. 8.03 and an average of 18.64. His best
The BCCI captioned its post as “The bowling spell was 4/1.
wait is over. Hello guys, welcome Shami has played just three test
back!” matches in 2023 where he picked nine
While the WTC final has been
scheduled from June 7-11 at the Oval scalps with an average of 28.22. He
had the best bowling figure of 4/60.
in London, June 12 has been set as a “They know the skillset he’s got
reserve day in the event of rain. and how dangerous he can be. It’s go-
Several of India’s Test stars will
mark their return to international ing to have to be him,” Ponting con-
cluded.
cricket after a long break as they were
playing in the IPL back home. A few India’s squad for WTC final:
of India’s regulars in the red-ball for-
mat showcased their talent and skills Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman
in the shortest format and will go into Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli,
the WTC final on the back of some Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk),
incredible performance in the cash- Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra
rich, domestic T20 league. Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur,
Shubman Gill, who opens for Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh
the country in the longest format, hit Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan
a purple patch in the IPL and was Players like Ajinkya Rahane are returning to the Test matches after a long time (ANI) Kishan (wk).
crowned with the “Orange Cap” af- Standby players:
ter aggregating the most runs in the form in this year’s IPL, aggregating Championship (WTC) final against
tournament. Gill ended the IPL 2023 326 runs in 14 matches at an average Australia at Oval. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar and
campaign with 890 runs in 17 match- of 32.60. He also smashed two fifties India are set to call on their pac- Suryakumar Yadav.
es, scoring at an average of 59.33 and in the season. ers more at The Oval than in the re- Australia squad:
a strike rate of 157.80. He has also Jadeja, too, shone in all three cent Test series against Australia on
smashed three hundreds in the season. aspects of the game in this sea- home soil when Mohammed Shami Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex
Surya also had a great IPL 2023 son of the IPL, bringing up 190 sent down 69.1 overs to be the busi- Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus
season, amassing 605 runs in 16 match- runs and also scalping 20 wick- est quick. With ongoing injury con- Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head,
es at an average of 43.21 and a strike ets for the eventual champions cerns for Jasprit Bumrah diminishing Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja,
rate of 181.14. He scored one century Chennai Super Kings (CSK). India’s pace threat, Ponting believes Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon,
and five fifties in the just-concluded Meanwhile, Australia legend Shami will have to be at his best if Todd Murphy, Steve Smith (vc),
season of the domestic T20 league. Ricky Ponting has suggested that Mo- they are to match Australia’s ac- Mitchell Starc and David Warner.
Falling out of favour with the na- hammed Shami has to “step up” and claimed attack.
tional selectors after an extended lean take his game to another level for In- “I think he has to step up or try Standby players:
patch with the willow, Rahane struck dia to win the final in the World Test and take his game to another level Mitch Marsh and Matthew Renshaw.

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