Despite a stalemate in the fourth Test, India has advanced to the World Test Championship final, which will be held at The Oval on June 7. This occurred at the lunch break on the last day of the Test between India and Australia, after New Zealand defeated Sri Lanka in the first Test. That eliminated Sri Lanka from contention and guaranteed India a place in the World Test Championship final, regardless of the outcome at the Narendra Modi Stadium. When the last Test finished in a tie, India retained the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2-1.
The spotlight then soon switched to the WTC final for which India’s preparation would be a tremendous job with two months of the IPL in between. The loss of major players Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant will be the greatest concern for Team India. Both players have been sidelined for a long period due to injury, and there is no clear indication of when they will return to the Indian squad.
After being substituted by KS Bharat, Pant failed to impress with the bat and struggled to maintain wickets on rank turners. Despite the ground is unlikely to favour spin in the WTC final, the spotlight remains on Bharat’s batting, which has been a cause of worry. Given that Pant was India’s finest hitter in Tests played in foreign countries, filling his shoes will be a difficult challenge.
As India’s problems continue, great Indian hitter Sunil Gavaskar offered his thoughts on the selection of India’s wicketkeeper-batter for the major match. With his recent success in England, Gavaskar believes KL Rahul is the frontrunner for the berth and should be considered while selecting the playing Eleven.
“KL Rahul may be a wicketkeeper. If he bats at No.5 or No.6 in the WTC final at the Oval, our batting will be stronger. Because he performed well in England last year. At Lord’s, he hit a century. Keep KL Rahul in mind while you choose your team for the WTC final “Gavaskar was reported in Sports Tak as stating.
After the first two Tests of the Australia series, Rahul was demoted to vice captain and omitted from the Team. He has struggled to score more than 30 runs in his past ten Test innings. Despite being India’s first-choice keeper in ODIs and having a strong record in English conditions, Rahul’s Test place seems to be in risk. Nonetheless, he had already reclaimed his Test place following a strong showing when India last visited England.
