Indian pacers Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Siraj provided a good start to the Rohit Sharma-led team on the opening day of the World Test Championship final against the Pat Cummins-led Australia. While Shami got an early wicket of opener Usman Khawaja, Siraj too troubled the Australian batters with his fiery pace. He even had a brief face-off with Australia No. 3 Marnus Labuschagne in the sixth over as he stared at the batter and even exchanged a world or two. Then on the first ball of the eight over, one of Siraj's delivery took Labuschagne by surprise and hit his thumb.
The incident got the social media talking.
The game could India's their legacy and the prowess they have gained in the recent time as they made their way into the World Test Championship 2023 final by defying the odds. After the toss, Rohit Sharma said, "We are going to bowl. The conditions and also the weather being overcast. The pitch won't change too much. Four seamers and one spinner. The spinner is Jadeja. It's always tough (to leave Ashwin), he's been a match-winner. He (Rahane) brings a lot of experience, he's played 80-odd Tests."
Pat Cummins also said, "We would have bowled as well. Hopefully day four and five, there's a bit of spin. You think it suits his bowling, he'll be a key weapon. We've been here for about 10 days. Pretty fresh, weather has been nice, we haven't missed a session."
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
With ANI inputs