India’s invincible form repeated in their own cricket backyard under Rohit Sharma The recent four-Test series against Australia retained the Border Gavaskar Trophy with a 2-1 verdict. But in the bigger picture there was a fight for berths The final of the World Test Championship (WTC) at the Oval in London from June 7, The two Tests required a clear margin of victory but the Aussies won in Indore and reduced the deficit while the cool surface at Ahmedabad signaled an inevitable run-soaked encounter. Another contender Sri Lanka had a chance while Australia had already booked their place. Thankfully for India, a Kane Williamson master-class helped New Zealand pull off a thrilling last-ball victory over Sri Lanka in Christchurch. Sri Lanka’s defeat proved a welcome bonus for India, who immediately secured qualification, even though the Ahmedabad Test headed to a stalemate. After losing to New Zealand in the 2021 final in Southampton, this time India’s quest to first qualify and then cure the ICC title drought within their cupboard at the BCCI office in Mumbai. India last won the Champions Trophy in the 2013 ICC Championship at Birmingham. Thereafter in both the white test and the blue test, India failed in the knockout rounds.
A win against Australia should put India in a good position but there will be no designer spinning class when the rivals face off at a neutral venue at the WTC summit. Tests ending in three days and pitches deteriorating from the first ball doesn’t bode well for the longest format of cricket. Ahmedabad was an exception with its five-day game but when India travel abroad, pace is the rule. With frontrunner Jasprit Bumrah recovering from a surgery, there are some concerns and Umesh Yadav apart from the two Mohammedans – Shami and Siraj – will have to resort to pace attack. Rohit, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara were back among the runs during the latest series against Australia and the batsmen are expected to thrive at The Oval after Shubman Gill revealed his good form. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja had a plethora of wickets and it remains to be seen whether India will field both or play just one in the WTC final. A lurking headache is that the core group of Rohit, Kohli, Pujara, Ashwin and Jadeja are in their mid-thirties and transition is inevitable. But before that is the three-match ODI series against Australia followed by the Indian Premier League: India will fly to England in June.