India captain Rohit Sharma gained the toss and opted to bowl towards Australia within the World Test Championship ultimate. The Rahul Dravid-coached aspect went in with a four-pronged tempo assault and most popular Ravindra Jadeja over seasoned off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. Also, KS Bharat was most popular over teenager Ishan Kishan because the wicketkeeper. In the batting division, Ajinkya Rahane made his return to the aspect after nearly 18 months. Mohammad Shami will spearhead the tempo assault, alongwith Mohammed Siraj, with Umesh Yadav because the third pacer. Shardul Thakur, too, discovered a spot within the workforce. (WTC Final Day 1 Live Updates)

At the toss, Rohit defined the choice to drop Ashwin was taken retaining the overcast circumstances in thoughts.

“We are going to bowl. Jjust the conditions and also the weather being overcast. I don’t think the pitch will change too much. You have to play good cricket and come out on top. Four seamers and one spinner. The spinner is Jadeja. It’s always tough (to leave Ashwin), he’s been a match-winner for us over the course of so many years. But you got to do the things that’s needed for the team and eventually we came up with that decision. He (Rahane) brings a lot of experience, he’s played 80-odd Test matches and he’s done well for the team. He’s been out for a while but but I don’t think the experience that he has can change all of tha,” Rohit stated on the toss.

“We would have bowled as well, I don’t think it makes too much of a difference. Hopefully day four and five, there’s a bit of spin. You think it suits his (Boland) bowling, he’s in the same spot all day long. This wicket has a bit of grass, 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, feeling good,” Australia captain Pat Cummins stated.

Teams: India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj.

Australia: Pat Cummins (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland.