Axar Patel reveals how Indian team are preparing for the ICC WTC final vs Australia

Indian all-rounder Axar Patel shed light on India's preparation for the ICC WTC final against Australia.

We are just one week away from the live action when India will take on Australia in the final of the World Test Championship 2023 in England. The game will start on June 7 at the Oval. The Indian test team has reached the UK and begun their preparation. India will miss the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and KL Rahul, who have been out due to fitness issues.

However, it will be a great chance for India to get their hands on the ICC titles, which they are unable to do since the last decade or so. Rohit Sharma and his men can end the trophy drought and win the WTC final. But it will not be easy to beat Australia with the pace attack they have in the English conditions. That's what India spin all-rounder Axar Patel believes.

"We have been training with the Duke balls during the IPL"- Axar Patel on India's WTC preparation

The conditions in England a great deal of swing and seam for the pacers, which is why it will be interesting to see what will be India's bowling combination. In an interaction on ICC, Axar Patel discussed about India's preparation for the WTC final. Notably, India don't have any warm-up games and needs to do self-practice. He said that it is tough mentally to switch from white-ball to red-ball, but everyone knew it, and the Indian bowlers were practicing with the red Dukes balls during the IPL.

The all-rounder added that it is all about how you feel about the challenge, and if you bowl with the right strategy at the right place, you will get the reward irrespective of any format. Axar Patel stated, "So, that’s what we’re doing. Since the match is in England, which is different from India, we are planning what lines and lengths will work here. The same thing in practice, we are good to go. Obviously, the conditions in India and England are different. The team is getting together slowly, so the planning will go on. We’ll leave the planning to our bowling coach."

He also revealed that the bowlers practiced with Dukes ball during the IPL. Axar was part of the Delhi Capitals, who were eliminated from the group stage. That's why he came to England with the first batch of the Indian team. He said that players who didn't qualify for the IPL playoffs, got more time to prepare for the WTC, and there would not be many issues with the preparation.