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India have recently announced their Test squad for the World Test Championship Final against Australia at The Oval.
India’s squad is an interesting one that has created questions over the composition of the playing XI along with how the team will fare in England.
Star bowler Jasprit Bumrah will miss out after undergoing back surgery last month in New Zealand. India will go into the Final with a pace stable of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur, and left-armer Jaydev Unadkat.
Bumrah was India’s standout quick in their last tour of England, taking 23 wickets at an average of 22.47. Yadav was the only other quick to average under 30, where he took six wickets for an average of 22.66 in his solitary Test.
Mohammed Siraj averaged 33.00 at an expensive economy rate of 3.87 across four matches, Mohammed Shami took 13 wickets at 34.23 from his four Tests, and Shardul Thakur went for 33.37 runs for each of his eight scalps in his three games.
(Photo by Patrick Hamilton/AFP via Getty Images)
Middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer, who boasts a Test average of 44.40 in the 10 Tests he’s played, has also been ruled out for the WTC decider with a back ailment of his own.
Rohit Sharma is the only batsman in India’s squad that averages over 40 in England in the longest format. In six Tests, he has accrued 466 runs at 42.36. The next-best-performing batsmen in Tests in England are KL Rahul, who has piled on 614 runs in 18 innings at a 34.11 average, and Virat Kohli, who averages 33.32 after 32 innings.
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After having been dropped in favour of young opener Shubman Gill in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, KL Rahul maintains his spot in the Test side as a possible horses-for-courses selection. It remains to be seen whether Rahul will play and if so where he will bat. In Shreyas Iyer’s absence, he could bat in the middle-order or India’s opener merry-go-round may set to continue with Rahul potentially being one of India’s first-choice openers in England.
In India’s previous tour to England, Rahul was India’s third-highest run-scorer, amassing 315 runs at an average of 39.37 in the opening slot. In two Tests in England, Gill scored 57 runs in four innings and has struggled to contend with the swing on offer in English conditions.
Former vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has been recalled to add depth to the middle-order after strong showings in India’s domestic scene. The right-hander played his last Test in January 2022 against South Africa, after which he was axed due to poor form. Since 2020, Rahane has played 19 Tests at an average of 24.08 with only a single century.
He went back to India’s first class competition, the Ranji Trophy, to press his case for a comeback to the Indian side. In seven matches, he scored 634 runs with two centuries at an average of 57.63. Indian selectors have favoured IPL performances for national selection in the past and his brilliant form in the IPL may have also played a factor in his inclusion, racking up 209 runs at an average of 52.25 and strike rate of 199.05.
However, Rahane’s record in England is nothing to write home about. In 15 Tests, he has scored 729 runs at 26.03.
Curiously, India has selected three spinners: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel. This could possibly mean they will go into the WTC decider with two spinners in their XI.
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Ashwin should be the lead spinner with a bowling average of 28.11 across seven Tests in England, and Jadeja may be primed to bat in the top six. In India’s last Test at The Oval, Jadeja batted at No.5 behind Kohli.
In the latest Test that India played in England, he scored a century at Edgbaston batting at No.7. With Rishabh Pant still out indefinitely, Jadeja may be likely to bat ahead of current wicket-keeper KS Bharat. Jadeja batting in the top six would allow India to play two spinners as part of a line-up with five bowling options, which could be a move the Indian management is looking to make if they aren’t confident in their pace stocks in English conditions.
