On Tuesday, Virat Kohli and Mohammed Siraj will be part of the first group of Indian players leaving for London’s World Test Championship (WTC) final.
The Indian cricket team will compete against Australia in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7-11, with players travelling to the UK in two or three groups altogether.
After Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated from the current IPL season, Kohli and Siraj will join the first set of players heading to the tournament. The team’s support staff, led by Rahul Dravid, will also be on the flight, as well as players R Ashwin, Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur.
The remaining players in India include captain Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami, K S Bharat, and Ajinkya Rahane, who will stay behind for the IPL playoffs. Meanwhile, Cheteshwar Pujara is already playing county cricket in England.
In comparison to the majority of Indian team players who participated in the IPL for two months, only three Australian WTC-bound players competed in the T20 league. Last week, former Australian captain Ricky Ponting mentioned that the Australians would be mentally better prepared for the final, whereas the Indians have valuable game time behind them.
India, who finished runners-up in 2021, will be aiming to win their first ICC trophy in 10 years.