India's WTC Final 2023 Squad: Preview & Analysis

Squad Preview of India ahead of the WTC final 2023

Indian Cricket Team is set to play the World Test Championship 2023 final against Australia from 7th of June at Oval. The BCCI announced the WTC squad on 25th April 2023 and Ajinkya Rahane made his comeback in Test Cricket after his brilliant performance in IPL this season. He has returned to the Indian Test side after 15 months. With few players to miss the WTC final due to injury and personal reasons, on May 8 the BCCI announced an updated squad with few replacements. 

KL Rahul who was part of the WTC final squad got injured during an IPL 2023 match. He injured his upper thigh and needed to undergo surgery for the same. Wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan has been announced as his replacement in the squad. He is yet to make his Test Debut. Being wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is not part of the WTC team, Ishan Kishan is the second option for wicketkeeping after KS Bharat.

Pacer Jaydev Unadkat also suffered injury during IPL 2023. He hasn’t been ruled out of the squad but is still not completely fit. He is part of India's WTC team. Umesh Yadav got a minor hamstring injury while playing for KKR in IPL but has joined the Indian camp and is seen practicing with the squad in England. Hope he is fit and ready to play in the final from June 7.

The BCCI announced a few reserve or standby players as well earlier. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar and Suryakumar Yadav were the three standby players. Batter Ruturaj Gaikwad will miss the WTC final as he is getting married, young Yashasvi Jaiswal is named as his replacement. Jaiswal impressed everyone with his batting talent in IPL 2023 and hence got this opportunity. 

Here is the complete squad of India for the World Test Championship final.

Openers

Rohit Sharma (captain) and Shubman Gill.

Middle-order batters

Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane.

Wicketkeepers

KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan.

Spin bowlers (All-rounders)

Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel.

Fast Bowlers

Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat.

Reserve or Standby players

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav and Mukesh Kumar.