Cricket News
Taking a look at Australia’a probable XI for WTC final
Australia and India are set to clash in the World Test Championship Final starting 7th June at the Oval. Almost all the players from the Australian squad can make it to the final XI for the World Test Championship final versus India despite the fact that they must make difficult XI selections.
Australia picked a potent 17-player touring team with all of its best WTC players eligible for the World Test Championship final at The Oval and the commencement of their Ashes campaign.
Let’s take a look at Australia’s probable XI for the WTC final.
1) Top Order (David Warner and Usman Khawaja)
Usman Khawaja and David Warner (Source: Twitter)
After being forced to leave the Test series in India early, owing to an elbow injury, David Warner comes back to the red-ball setup. However, to be in the line-up of the WTC final, he must overcome the challenge of Marcus Harris as well as Matthew Renshaw. Usman Khawaja has been locked down as the opener after his string of amazing performances against India in their last Test series.
2) Middle Order (Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith)
Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne (Source: Twitter)
Two of the greatest Test batters in the world right now are part of the Australian team’s middle order. If these two get going in the batting, Australia have a solid chance to clinch their maiden WTC title. They have been preparing well as they have been in England playing for Glamorgan and Sussex, respectively.
3) All-rounders and Wicketkeeper (Travis Head, Cameron Green and Alex Carey)
Travis Head and Cameron Green (Source: Twitter)
Travis Head is likely to get the start ahead of Peter Handscomb, who had a decent contribution to the team during their last tour to India. Head also had an average series, but since he is the preferred one in this role when matches are played in Australia, the team management might just stick with him.
Given that Cameron Green’s last three Test matches included a game-changing century in India, an undefeated fifty, and a five-for versus South Africa, he can be cemented into the all-rounder position ahead of the experiences Mitchell Marsh who has excelled for the country in white ball cricket.
Josh Inglis poses little threat to Alex Carey, the wicketkeeper, even though he failed to make a great impression last time around against India just scoring 56 runs throughout six Test innings. The same teams will face each other over on neutral ground and Carey might be able to show his ‘A’ game.
4) Bowlers (Pat Cummins, Nathon Lyon, Mitchell Starc and Scott Boland)
Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc (Source: Twitter)
Nathon Lyon will be the sole spinner in this line-up and he would be looking to assist the pace bowlers once again and get the crucial wickets and break partnerships at important stages of the game. With two more than adequate candidates identified in the 15-man roster, selecting the third pacer to join skipper Cummins and Starc would likely be the most difficult decision.
Since his unexpected Australia debut, Scott Boland has taken 28 victims in seven Test matches at a pitiful average of 13.42. He has hardly made a mistake. The management would like to make this critical decision on the day of the game itself. Michael Neser is another excellent option for the Australian team.