- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Australia have picked a 17-player touring party for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against India to be played at the Oval, England, in early June and the opening two Ashes Tests following that.
Ace opening batter David Warner was included in the squad which will be led by Pat Cummins who missed the later half of the away series in India last month due to personal reasons. Australia were led by Steven Smith in the absence of Cummins and while the visitors lost the Test series 1-2, they won the three-match one-day international series 2-1.
Warner also sustained an elbow injury during that series but now is back in the frame to be selected for the WTC final.
The match will be the second final in the history of the WTC with New Zealand winning the first edition in 2021, beating Virat Kohli-led India by eight wickets in the final in Southampton. The WTC final is the culmination of consistent performance at Test level by the team for more than two years.
There are in all 17 players who will be available for selection in the WTC final and the first two Ashes Tests to be played in Birmingham and Lord’s, respectively.
According to an International Cricket Council report, Australian selectors will evaluate the make-up of the squad after the second match and can make changes for the remaining three Tests to be played at Headingley, Old Trafford and The Oval.
A 15-player squad for the WTC final will be unveiled on May 28.
The match will be played between June 7 and 11.
Australia touring party
Pat Cummins (captain), Steve Smith (vice-captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marcus Harris, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Marsh, Mitchell Starc, David Warner
