India’s Squad for WTC Final 2021 & 2023

India played the final of the World Test Championship 2021 against New Zealand at Rose Bowl, Southampton dated 18 June – 22 June 2021. India moved to the final after playing a five-match series against England. Due to rain interruptions in the game, a reserve day was also used in the match and the match was finished on 23rd June. New Zealand was crowned the winner of the World Test Championship as they won the match by eight wickets. New Zealand won the ICC Test Championship mace for the first time and was also awarded the first prize of 1.6 Million US Dollars meanwhile, India came second in the run and won the runner-up prize of 800,000 US Dollars.

WTC Final 2021

The final was initially due to be held at Lord’s, but on 10 March 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) made a decision that the game had to be moved to the Rose Bowl as the ground’s on-site hotels made the venue suitable to establish a bubble environment, made necessary by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It was a difficult time as maintaining that bubble during the pandemic was a task and players getting infected/exposed was challenging for them. 

Indian Squad for WTC Final 2021:

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha

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New Zealand’s Squad for WTC Final 2021:

Kane Williamson (C), Tom Blundell (WK), Trent Boult, Devon Conway, Colin de Grandhomme, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling (WK), Will Young

The notable names to miss out were Mayank Agarwal, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, and KL Rahul who was in fact Virat Kohli’s opposition captain in the team’s India-squad practice game.

India had an upper hand for the finals if we compared the squads as they have been in form, they defeated England prior to that and had the winning flow. The New Zealand squad overpowered the match and eventually won the match by eight wickets. 

WTC 2023 Final Squad

In the 2023 WTC final India will compete against Australia, match will be played at the Oval, England from 7th June – 11th June 2023. 

Indian Squad for WTC final 2023 : 

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Srikar Bharat, Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat

Rishab Pant will be the player who will be missed the most in this year’s squad as the Indian team is still confused about the wicket-keeper batter position as they have KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan as options for them. 

Australian Squad for WTC final 2023 : 

Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Michael Neser, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Josh Inglis, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner.

Josh Hazelwood will be the player who will miss the final for Australia due to his ongoing left Achilles and left side issue, Michael Neser gonna replace him.

Probable Playing 11 for 2023 : 

India: Rohit Sharma (C), 2. Shubman Gill, 3. Cheteshwar Pujara, 4. Virat Kohli, 5. Ajinkya Rahane, 6. Ishan Kishan (Wk), 7. Ravindra Jadeja, 8. Axar Patel, 9. Shardul Thakur, 10. Mohammed Siraj, and 11. Mohammed Shami

Australia: Usman Khawaja, 2. David Warner, 3. Marnus Labuschagne, 4. Steve Smith, 5. Travis Head, 6. Cameron Green, 7. Alex Carey (Wk), 8. Mitchell Starc, 9. Pat Cummins (C), 10. Nathan Lyon, and 11. Josh Hazlewood

The Australian team has an upper edge in this match on the basis of statistics. The bowling side of India will have to get rid of Steve Smith as fast as they can otherwise he alone will be a very big threat for the Indian team in the match. 

Comparison between the two Indian Squads – 2021 & 2023: 

When we compare the two squads of the Indian Team of the year 2021 and 2023 the major changes we can see are : 

• The players we do not have in this year’s squad are – Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Wriddhiman Saha.
• The players that are new to the squad this year are –   Ishan Kishan, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, and KS Bharat.