New Delhi: Now that that the noise surrounding the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 has died down and the dust has settled on that insane final, it is time now for those cricketers who have made the grade for the World Test Championship (WTC) final squad to relinquish the colours and wear changed stripes – three of them, to be precise – and take on Australia. This will be a far cry from anything we have witnessed on the cricket pitch in recent days, be it the smash and grab of T20s, or even Test cricket, as it was played at home.
Australia, who will be embarking on their Ashes campaign post the WTC final, won’t let the latter distract them from what will be something of a revenge campaign after the rather sombre end to the Test series in India, which the Australians were quite gung-ho about winning, before India’s ‘home’ advantage was launched at them.
Australia were not impressed with the pitches they got, but given their approach in the first two Tests, one can safely say that the result wouldn’t have been much different.
But they came to their own in the third, before the fourth provided India with a sleep beauty to ensure a home series win.
There will be quite a few in the Australian squad keen on revalidation as Test players.
Also, the Oval is not home for many other reasons. While the Indian fans will surely fill the stands, the turf and pitch are not something the Indians would have experienced for a while. Nor the weather.
One cannot visit England in the ‘summer’ without anticipating rain and a breeze that can challenge the bravest. While the weather forecast for the London shows just one per cent rain, that one per cent in England can often be 100 per cent in happening.
Day One, June 7, shows completely overcast conditions, but only that one per cent rain. Enough for the red cricket ball to talk in the hands of experts.
So, Australia skipper Pat Cummins, and his seam-up assault team of Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and also Cameron Green will be keen.
India aren’t too far behind either, with Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj leading the quintet of seamers, with Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat adding to teeth.
In these conditions, out and out pace is not always a winning formula – swing is king. So, those who can swing, and control it, will be a big challenge.
The counter to that challenge is who will deal with it effectively. India captain Rohit Sharma will have quite a job at hand, especially with his lean form, while the other from Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will have to find their feet double-quick.
But the Oval will promise some help for the spinners, with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel facing off against Nathan Lyon and Todd Murphy. The number of spinners in the squad indicates where the emphasis in bowling would lie.
The Australian batters have a lot to play for. David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and the rest will be out to prove that they are good enough to win against India. Not to mention that several will be fighting their own battles against advancing age and receding form.
The contest should be engaging. Hopefully there are not landslide collapses against the swinging delivery, and both aspects get a fair deal. What better way to decide a world champion than to offer a fair field to batting, bowling and fielding. And hopefully no rain.
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