Team India kickstarts preparation for WTC final against Australia

LONDON: Team India on Thursday unveiled their training kit with new sponsors Adidas as they started their preparation for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia next month in England.

Earlier this week, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah confirmed that Adidas had been signed as the new kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team.

Taking to their official Twitter handle, BCCI revealed Team India's new training kit. The coaching staff, including head coach Rahul Dravid and fast bowlers Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav were pictured in the new kit. India will take on Australia at The Oval in the ICC World Test Championship final from June 7 to 11.

The No.1 and No.2 ranked sides in the ICC Test Team rankings will play each other in the marquee WTC final at The Oval in England with neither team enjoying a particularly good record at the venue.

"Unveiling #TeamIndia's new training kit Also, kickstarting our preparations for the #WTCFinal," BCCI said in a tweet. Two of India's most prolific batters Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer won't be playing in the final with the latter down with injury and the wicketkeeper-batter still recovering from a car accident earlier in the year.

India have three spin options in their squad, with experienced off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and No.1 ranked all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja joined in the 15-player squad by left-armer tweaker Axar Patel.

Despite numerous injuries hurting their lead-up, India boasts fast-bowling depth, and could yet fit three fast bowlers into the side. Mohammed Siraj and Mohammad Shami could be joined by Shardul Thakur, also known to bring support on the batting side of things, a strong trio even if Umesh Yadav and left-armer Jaydev Unadkat join Jasprit Bumrah as injury absentees.

On the other hand, with Josh Hazlewood priming for the one-off Test after recovering from Achilles trouble, and expected to line up with Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins, the Australian attack at this point almost picks itself.

David Warner who returned to form recently can have a strong impact during the upcoming ICC World Test Championship final against India. Warner broke a drought of almost two years without a Test century when he amassed a superb 200 against South Africa during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last year and looked to be in reasonable touch when scoring 516 runs from 14 IPL matches with the Delhi Capitals in even more recent times.

India's Test squad WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.

Australia's squad for WTC final 2023:Pat Cummins (Captain), Steve Smith, David Warner, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Matthew Renshaw, Marcus Harris, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh, Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc, and Todd Murphy.