Team India will take on Australia in the final of the second edition of the WTC Final. The match will be played at The Oval from June 7.
Under Virat Kohli‘s captaincy, India lost the inaugural World Test Championship Final a couple of years ago to New Zealand in Southampton. Under Rohit Sharma, the Asian giants will look to avenge that loss and end their decade-long ICC title drought.
The majority of the Indian players from the 2021 World Test Championship Final will feature in the upcoming 2023 WTC Final against Australia but for three players.
Here are 3 Indian Players Who Played In The Last WTC Final But Got Dropped This Time
Jasprit Bumrah
India’s spearhead fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been out of action since last September due to a major back injury, for which he underwent surgery a couple of months ago and is expected to be back by August this year. The BCCI are hoping Bumrah will be fit for the 2023 World Cup in October
Bumrah had gone wicketless in the 2021 World Test Championship Final against New Zealand.
Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant‘s career was on the rise but the wicket-keeper suffered a major, near-fatal car accident in December last year. Thankfully Pant’s life was saved, but he suffered multiple injuries, the most concerning of which was on his knees for which he’s undergone a couple of surgeries so far.
Only recently he’s started walking without the help of crutches and it will take him, according to a BCCI official, another “6 to 7 months” to get to good fitness. This means that Pant is unlikely to be fit in time for the World Cup 2023.
In the 2021 World Test Championship final against the Kiwis, Pant recorded scores of 4 and 41, which was the highest score in India’s second innings. KS Bharat or Ishan Kishan will keep the wicket in the 2023 World Test Championship final against Australia.
Ishant Sharma
Ishant Sharma had done well in the 2021 WTC Final: the lanky pacer returned with figures of 25-9-48-3 in the first innings, helping India stay alive, and there was little he could do in the second innings while defending a small total. Ishant was part of the India side that took a 2-1 lead in the following series against England in 2021, but his decline was visible in that series.
Ishant featured in 8 Tests in 2021 with only 14 wickets to show and was dropped from the Test squad in early 2022. Even in the absence of Bumrah, Ishant was not recalled and Unadkat was given the rewards for his success in domestic cricket.
