World Test Championship final: Australia pacers challenge India batsmen for red-ball title

Rohit Sharma's team face off against Pat Cummins's side for Test mace at The Oval

India captain Rohit Sharma, left, with his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins with the ICC World Test Championship mace before the final at The Oval. Getty

India and Australia will have little time to waste when the World Test Championship final begins at The Oval in London on Wednesday.

While Test matches offer enough time for players to get into their groove, the WTC final is a peculiar challenge – a one-off match to decide the title winner of a championship that ran for two years.

Some have suggested a best-of-three final for such a long drawn out championship, but that is for the administrators to decide in the future. This week, it will come down to five days of intense battle between two closely matched teams at a neutral venue.

Rohit Sharma's India finished the current cycle as the top-ranked team, ahead of the Aussies. India made it to their second straight WTC final, having lost the inaugural title match to New Zealand in 2021, and will be desperate to get their hands on an ICC trophy – which will be a first for them in a decade.

The challenge will be particularly acute for Indian players, most of whom only recently landed in England for red-ball preparation after the conclusion of the Indian Premier League.

Getting used to Dukes balls is a challenge in itself. Doing that at fairly short notice ahead of a championship match against the world-class pace attack of Australia is a whole new ball game.

Captain Rohit Sharma admitted getting used to the conditions will be tricky, and advised his batsmen to show patience.

"England, in general, is pretty challenging conditions for the batters, but as long as you are prepared to have a good grind you can have some success as a batter," Sharma said.

"One thing I realised batting here was you are never in actually, because the weather keeps changing a lot. So you've got to keep concentrating for longer periods of time and that is the challenge of this format.

"You'll get that intuition when it is your time to take the bowlers on and that is when you should be ready for it."

Sharma will be hoping star batsman Virat Kohli, the ever-reliable Cheteshwar Pujara and the highly impressive Shubman Gill put their best foot forward this week.

His counterpart Pat Cummins will be leading a new-ball attack that is armed to the teeth. Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has a habit of raising his game in finals, and has been preparing for months for the English summer, which also includes the Ashes series right after the India match.

Cummins confirmed fellow fast bowler Scott Boland will play the final against India after experienced seamer Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the one-off contest with a side strain and an Achilles issue.

The Australia skipper said picking Boland ahead of Michael Neser as the third pacer was "no surprise" considering the variety the Victorian offered.

"We're big on everyone bowling slightly differently," Cummins said on the eve of the match.

"Scotty is a seam bowler on a good length, but he just offers something slightly different to Hazlewood, and Starc being a left hander is bit different.

"I don't think there's ever a pecking order. You think about the three guys that you want to go out and play."

For Boland, who has 28 wickets from seven Tests with an extraordinary average of 13.42, it will be his first Test in England.

While India haven't won any world title for 10 years, Australia too have extra motivation to go for glory – the Test mace is the only thing missing from their stellar trophy cabinet.

“It's a trophy we haven't won in Australian cricket," Cummins said.

"Test Cricket for me is always the pinnacle. I've had some great series wins over the years, but to play in this tournament ... I think it could be the most special."

India will have to make do without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who is struggling with a long-term back injury, wicketkeeper-batsmen Rishabh Pant, who was hurt in a road accident, and KL Rahul.