Picture Credit: Twitter/ICC
India and Australia will be facing each other in World Test Championship 2023 final at the Kennington Oval starting on June 7. Both teams have high-profile players on their side with interesting matchups and key battles to look forward to in this final contest and here in this article, we will find out which team has a higher chance to lift the WTC 2023 title.
1. Batting:
In this aspect, we will have a comparison between key Indian batters and Australian batters who bat at the same position and have been performing for their national side in Test cricket consistently.
- Rohit Sharma vs Usman Khawaja
- Cheteshwar Pujara vs Marnus Labuschagne
- Virat Kohli vs Steven Smith
(i) Rohit Sharma vs Usman Khawaja on England soil:
Rohit Sharma was in very good form with the bat in the 2021 Test series against England as he smashed 368 runs from 8 innings (4 Tests), especially he contributed in the matches that the Indian team won in the Test series by scoring 83 runs at Lord's venue and his maiden overseas Test hundred (127) at the Oval venue. His opening partnership with KL Rahul was a game-changing factor in the 2021 series against England and once again he is expected to continue his good run with the Shubman Gill.
Overall, Rohit Sharma has scored 466 runs from 12 innings in Test on England conditions.
Usman Khawaja despite being the top run-scorer in the recently concluded Test series between IND vs AUS, hasn't done justice with the bat on England soil in Tests so far. Notably, Khawaja is the second-highest run-scorer in the 2021-23 WTC Cycle but on England conditions, he has managed to score only 236 runs from 12 innings at an average of 19.66.
Khawaja has played only two Test series on England conditions in 2013 & 2019. Thus based on his recent form it may not be right to determine how he will play against India, meanwhile, David Warner has also struggled to play in English conditions as he managed only 651 runs in 25 innings. Notably, Warner recorded three consecutive ducks in the 2019 Test series against England.
The above graph shows the average and runs recorded by Khawaja and Rohit respectively at the England conditions in Test cricket.
Rohit Sharma vs Australia in the 2023 Test series - 242 runs (6 inns) at an avg of 40.33
Usman Khawaja vs India in the 2023 Test series - 333 runs (7 inns) at an avg of 47.57
Rohit Sharma after scoring 120 runs in Nagpur in the 1st Test hasn't done much in the Test series against Australia and his recent form in IPL 2023 has been a big concern for the Indian side.
(ii) Cheteshwar Pujara vs Marnus Labuschange on England soil:
Cheteshwar Pujara scored 306 runs from 10 innings at a batting average of 34 in the recently played Test series against England in 2021-22. He played a few good innings like 45 at Lord's, 91 in Leeds, 61 at The Oval, and 66 in Birmingham.
Overall, Pujara has scored 829 runs from 30 innings in Test cricket at an average of 29.60 in England conditions.
Marnus Labuschagne was in terrific form in the Test series against England in 2019. He has scored 353 runs from 7 innings at a batting average of 50.42 in Tests in England condition. He scored four consecutive fifty-plus scores in that Test series.
Marnus Labuschagne Test scores on England soil in 2019:
59 at Lord's
74 & 80 in Leeds
67 & 11 in Manchester
48 & 14 at The Oval
Labuschagne has been brilliant in the WTC'21-23 cycle as well, thus he is expected to do well in these English conditions as he played in the 2019 Test series against England.
Pujara ended his century drought in the 2022 Test series against Bangladesh, but however, he didn't play well in the recently completed Test series against Australia.
Cheteshwar Pujara vs Australia in the 2023 Test Series - 140 runs (6 inns) at an avg of 28
Marnus Labuschagne vs India in the 2023 Test Series - 244 runs (8 inns) at an avg of 40.66
(iii) Virat Kohli vs Steven Smith
Virat Kohli has played three different Test series and WTC 2021 final on England soil. Kohli had a disastrous tour with the bat in the 2014 Test series against England but played brilliantly in the 2018 Test series and had a mediocre series with the bat in 2021-22.
Virat Kohli in Test series on England soil:
2014: 134 runs (10 inns) at an avg of 13.4
2018: 593 runs (10 inns) at an avg of 59.3
2021-22: 249 runs (9 inns) at an avg of 27.66
He scored 44 & 13 against NZ at Southampton in the 2021 WTC final.
Steven Smith has a terrific Test record on England soil. He has scored 1727 runs from 30 Test innings. Steve Smith scored six fifty-plus scores in seven Test innings on England soil in the 2019 series.
Steven Smith scores in the 2019 Test series:
144 & 142 in Birmingham
92 at Lord's
211 & 82 in Manchester
80 & 23 at The Oval
Steven Smith despite having fabulous Test numbers in England, has failed in the recently completed series against India in 2023.
Steven Smith vs India in the 2023 Test series - 145 runs (7 inns) at an avg of 29
Virat Kohli scored his 75th international century in the last Test match that he played against Australia in Ahmedabad.
2. Bowling:
Here we will look at the pacers who have the ability to do well in England conditions. Notably Australian skipper Pat Cummins himself will play a key role, while India will depend on bowlers like Siraj and Shami.
- Pat Cummins vs Mohammed Siraj
- Mitchell Starc vs Mohammed Shami
(i) Pat Cummins vs Mohammed Siraj on England soil
Pat Cummins was the leading wicket-taker in the 2019 five-match Test series between England and Australia. He has taken 29 wickets from 10 innings on England conditions in Test cricket.
Mohammed Siraj was impressive with the ball in the Test series against England in 2021. He played a crucial role in Lord's Test victory by picking 8 wickets in that game. Overall, he has taken 18 wickets from 9 innings in England conditions in the Test.
Both have been brilliant with the ball in the recently concluded Test series in England conditions.
Lesser the bowling average and strike rate, the better the bowler's performance is.
(ii) Mitchell Starc vs Mohammed Shami on England soil
Mitchell Starc overall has picked 33 Test wickets in English conditions from 17 innings. He played three Tests in 2013, five Tests in 2015 & only one Test in 2019.
He would play a key role in swinging and seaming conditions at the Oval. Recently, he looked impressive with the ball in the Test series against West Indies and South Africa in 2022.
Mohammed Shami has picked 38 Test wickets overall in English conditions from 23 innings. Shami has been the most experienced bowler for India in these English conditions. He played a key role with Siraj in the 2021-22 Test series against England and also picked 16 Test wickets in the 2018 series against England. 
Lesser the bowling average and strike rate, the better the bowler's performance is.
Key battles to look forward:
Cheteshwar Pujara vs Pat Cummins - 172 runs (17 inns); Outs: 7
Virat Kohli vs Nathan Lyon - 511 runs (31 inns); Outs: 7
Cheteshwar Pujara vs Nathan Lyon - 570 runs (33 inns); Outs: 13
Steven Smith vs Ravindra Jadeja - 232 runs (18 inns); Outs: 7
David Warner vs Ravichandran Ashwin - 194 runs (20 inns); Outs: 11
Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon may not provide great impact with the ball if the pitch supports pacers but still, they have a good record against the mentioned batters.
India vs Australia in ICC events in England:
1983 ODI WC - AUS won by 162 runs, Nottingham
1983 ODI WC - IND won by 118 runs, Chelmsford
1999 ODI WC - AUS won by 77 runs, The Oval
2019 ODI WC - IND won by 36 runs, The Oval
Both India and Australia have done well in the past in England conditions recently, and the winner of this match might be concluded based on how the mentioned key batters and bowlers perform on that day.
India would look to repeat their 2021 Test series heroics against England in this game.
