India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bowl first in the World Test Championship Final on Wednesday at The Oval.
Sharma, on the other hand, was seen getting a little emotional during the singing of the Indian national anthem.
Furthermore, both teams are wearing black arm guards in memory of the Odisha train accident victims.
The two teams also observed a minute of silence before the start of play to pay their respects.
“The team mourns the deaths and extends its heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of all those who died tragically.” Team India will wear black armbands to show solidarity with those affected, according to a statement released by the BCCI.
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The Rahul Dravid-coached team went in with a four-pronged pace attack, with Ravindra Jadeja preferred over veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
“He (Ashwin) has been a match-winner for us, it is not a great occasion to leave him out,” Rohit said, “but you have to do what is best for the team in the given conditions.” India named Shardul Thakur and Umesh Yadav to their squad, as well as KS Bharat as wicket-keeper, leaving out Ishan Kishan.
Earlier, India qualified for the 2023 World Test Championship Final second on the points table with 127 points and 58.8 Points Percentage System (PCT) and preferred Ravindra Jadeja over seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Agarwal. While they lost the series in South Africa and drew a five-match series in England, India had a near-perfect home record with victories over New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Australia, as well as another away series victory in Bangladesh.
Australia, on the other hand, qualified first, having won all three home series during the 2021/23 cycle, including a 4-0 Ashes thrashing. Aside from that, the Pat Cummins-led team won 1-0 in Pakistan and drew 1-1 in Australia.