AUS vs IND Final Test Match Prediction

AUS vs IND Team Previews

Australia

Australia narrowly missed out on a berth in the inaugural WTC Finals, thanks to a 4-point penalty for slow over rate. However, they made a strong comeback in the second edition, beginning with a 5-0 win over England in the Ashes. They went on to win series against Pakistan, West Indies, and South Africa to retain their place at the top of the table.

They suffered a minor scare after back-to-back defeats against India but a comprehensive win against the hosts in Indore ensured that the Baggy Greens sailed through easily.

Bowling will be the core strength for Australia in this match. Skipper Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc haven’t played much in the recent past and will be fully fit as they head to the summit clash. The overcast conditions in England and the good bounce on offer will suit the Australians perfectly as they look to rip through the defenses of a strong Indian batting line-up.

Cameron Green had an excellent outing in the IPL, further cementing his all-round credentials, and will be raring to peddle his skills here. Nathan Lyon, who played an instrumental role in helping Australia secure a win against India in the Indore test will once again play an important role here, especially in the last couple of days as the ball begins to turn.

The batting however isn’t in the best of shapes for the team and will be a cause of concern. David Warner didn’t have the best of times in the IPL and the test format isn’t one of his bigger strengths. The others, including Travis Head, Usman Khwaja, and Alex Carey haven’t had much international exposure since the series in India and can be a bit rusty here.

Steve Smith and Marcus Labuschagne have played plenty of county cricket and will be the key batsmen for Australia in this game. 

India

India’s journey to its second successive WTC Final was a long and arduous one. Starting with a CoViD-hampered series against England, the Indian team witnessed some major highs and lows throughout the 2 years as they competed with teams like Sri Lanka and South Africa for the second spot on the table.

However, in the end, the team managed to scrape through thanks to some favorable results to set up a summit clash with their arch-rivals in the longest format of the game.

India has managed to select a well-balanced team for this match. Despite the absence of some of their key players, including Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, and Rishabh Pant, the team appears quite strong, at least on paper. Players like Shubhman Gill, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami, and Ravindra Jadeja have shown excellent form in the recently concluded IPL and will be feeling quite confident as they head into this key encounter.

Ajinkya Rahane makes a return to the test squad after a gap of close to one and a half years and will add strength to the middle order along with Cheteshwar Pujara, who enjoys an excellent record in England. Looking at Ishan Kishan’s exploits in the IPL, we think that he might earn his maiden test call here.

Jadeja, with his all-round abilities, will be a vital cog in the squad. Mohammed Shami will lead the pace attack along with Mohammed Siraj. Umesh Yadav is likely to be the third seamer for the team. It will be interesting to see who the 5th bowler will be as both, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shardul Thakur are in decent form.