India won the toss and opted to bowl first in the all-important World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 finals against Australia. The match is being played at the Kennington Oval in London.
With the usual overcast conditions in the UK known to assist bowlers more than batters, a partnership could see batters hold the advantage.
Ahead of the match, the pitch reports are in and it suggests that India have made a good decision having won the toss. The weather will be clear and sunny, but with heavy grass coverage on the pitch, it looks like a seamers' heaven.
India will be able to bring in the likes of Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav to good use and look to take some early wickets with the pitch likely to support their swing.
Elsewhere, Australian openers David Warner and Usman Khawaja will have to be on the top of their games and hold down the wicket and tire the bowlers with everything seemingly on the line.
India will be looking to go for glory at the second time of asking having lost out to New Zealand in the final last time out.
Ahead of the match both captains spoke to the media. Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said, "We are going to bowl. The conditions and also the weather being overcast. The pitch won't change too much. Four seamers and one spinner. The spinner is Jadeja. It's always tough (to leave Ashwin), he's been a match-winner. He (Rahane) brings a lot of experience, he's played 80-odd Tests."
Meanwhile, his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins said, "We would have bowled as well. Hopefully day four and five, there's a bit of spin. You think it suits his bowling, he'll be a key weapon. We've been here for about 10 days. Pretty fresh, weather has been nice, we haven't missed a session, feeling good."
The final line-ups are also in. The Indian squad includes Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.
The Australian squad will feature David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, and Scott Boland.
