The Australian cricket team is determined to secure their first-ever World Test Championship (WTC) title as they gear up to face India at The Oval next week. Their previous encounter with India earlier this year in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy resulted in a disappointing 2-1 loss. Now, led by Pat Cummins, Australia is focused on winning the summit clash. Prior to the highly anticipated final, the International Cricket Council (ICC) shared pictures of four Australian fast bowlers — Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Scott Boland — donning the Australia jersey. ICC captioned the tweet, “It’s giving pace.”
It's giving... pace! _#WTC23 pic.twitter.com/MonYr7TKKI
— ICC (@ICC) June 3, 2023
A certain Twitter user felt that Australia will win the final match by “10 wickets.”
aus Win by 10 wicket
___________________
— S AFRIIDII (@Afridiis090) June 3, 2023
Echoing a similar sentiment, another person commented that ICC’s post is giving, “Classic Australian vibes.”
One social media user, optimistically, replied, “What a contest it will be. Can't wait to see King Kohli playing cover drives while facing the aforesaid bowlers.”
Oo what a contest it will be... can't wait to see king Kohli cover drives to these aforesaid bowlers..#WTCFinal2023 @ICC #INDvsAUS
— Asif Iqbal (@imAsif_561) June 3, 2023
Some Indian cricket enthusiasts expressed their support for Rohit Sharma and his team. This user said Team India will conquer the WTC final “by an innings.”
India winning this by an innings
— HM (@Harshamaheshian) June 3, 2023
Despite Australia’s formidable pace attack, their track record at The Oval raises concerns ahead of the World Test Championship final. With only seven wins out of 38 matches played at this venue, Australia’s success rate stands at a mere 18.42 percent. They have suffered defeat on 17 occasions, while the remaining 14 Tests ended in draws.
Under the captaincy of Pat Cummins, Australia secured their spot in the final by finishing at the top of the points table in the 2021-23 WTC cycle. Besides their struggles at The Oval, the Australian batsmen will also need to contend with India’s formidable spin attack led by Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The Ashwin-Jadeja partnership proved to be highly effective during the Border-Gavaskar series earlier this year, and it is anticipated to pose a similar challenge in the WTC final starting on June 7.
