India last won an ICC trophy in 2013 and since then, ten years have gone by. The team did come close on multiple occasions but could never touch gold. 2023 will provide another such opportunity to the Rohit Sharma-led side. Courtesy of being very consistent in the longest format of the game, the team qualified for the finals of the World Test Championship, and will now face Australia at The Oval, England.

Ahead of that, there are many concerns that need to be sorted out. Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer are not available for the summit clash and that’s a massive blow to the team. Especially with Pant not being there, as the southpaw has a tremendous record against the Aussies. KS Bharat or Ishan Kishan is likely to replace him in the playing XI but neither of the two has enough experience in Test cricket. 

Bowling looks more or less sorted with Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj in great form but it will be interesting to see if the team management backs both Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin or either of them. Shardul Thakur can be the third-choice seamer as he is better than Umesh Yadav when it comes to batting but the latter can reverse swing which Shardul hasn’t showcased much at the highest level yet. Thus, there’s a lot of competition in the bowling unit at the moment.

When it comes to the batting side, Shubman Gill is in remarkable form this year. He finished IPL 2023 as the leading run-scorer but whether he can carry that form in red-ball cricket is a big question. Eyes will be on Cheteshwar Pujara as well. The cricketer had a terrific season for Sussex in the County Championship Division Two and he will be hoping to carry the same form. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane is expected to make his return to the playing XI while both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will be eager to finally win an ICC trophy – something they are craving for so many years now.