Big picture - final flourish for Warner, Starc, Ashwin, Kohli, Pujara?

Is it world cricket's most prestigious match? Or is it a final that should be more than a one-off contest but cannot be, thanks to the constraints of a calendar that is squeezing Test cricket to the margins, awkwardly positioned between two events that are, in hugely contrasting ways, more important, and tacked onto the end of an exclusionary league that isn't even a proper league, in which nearly every team plays fewer Test matches than they used to?

This final feels especially weighty, since it pits the two best teams not just of Test cricket's last two years but arguably of its last decade.

This final may also represent something of a final flourish for the era-defining players that crowd the two sides. Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Steven Smith, Mitchell Starc and David Warner are all 33 or older, as are R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma and Umesh Yadav, with Mohammed Shami less than three months shy of joining them. They've all played upwards of 50 Tests, barring captains Cummins and Rohit who are set to reach that milestone on Wednesday.

Two golden generations, then, are gunning for what could be their last shot at a Test world title. Some dreams are set to come true, and some others to shatter.

Form guide

Australia DWLLD (last five Tests, most recent first)
India DLWWW

In the spotlight - Cummins and Shami

Team news - Bharat or Kishan?

With Australia confirming that Scott Boland will take the injured Hazlewood's place, their XI almost picks itself. With Peter Handscomb dropping out of the squad after an excellent spell as a horses-for-courses middle-order batter in India, Travis Head will move back to No. 5 and allow David Warner, who missed the last two Tests in India with a fractured elbow, to return as opener alongside Usman Khawaja.

Australia (likely): 1 David Warner, 2 Usman Khawaja, 3 Marnus Labuschagne, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Travis Head, 6 Cameron Green, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Scott Boland.

Ajinkya Rahane is set to return to Test cricket for the first time since January 2022, his experience likely to get him the nod over Suryakumar Yadav with the incumbent No. 5 Sheyas Iyer out with a back injury. KS Bharat's superior glovework won him the nod over Ishan Kishan during the home series against Australia, but in English conditions where keepers spend far less time up to the stumps negotiating sharp turn and inconsistent bounce, India could be tempted to back Kishan's counterattacking skills and left-handedness. The biggest question they face, though, is whether to play four fast bowlers and just one spinner in Ravindra Jadeja, or pair him with R Ashwin.

India (possible): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 KS Bharat/Ishan Kishan (wk), 8 R Ashwin/Shardul Thakur, 9 Umesh Yadav/Jaydev Unadkat, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Mohammed Siraj.

Pitch and weather

These numbers, though, could have something to do with Oval Tests tending to take place in August and September, when the weather is warm and dry and the pitches have undergone wear and tear over the long English summer. The ground has never previously hosted a Test match as early as June.

Oval pitches typically tend to offer plenty of bounce, which could enthuse bowlers, both fast and slow, on either side, as well as allow batters to play their shots if there isn't too much sideways movement.

The forecast promises a clear, bright start to the Test match, with maximum temperatures in the early 20s Celsius. There could be rain on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, though - the scheduled fourth, fifth and reserve days.

Stats and trivia

Quotes

"Think this puts a bit of a bookend on the last few years, then feels like it starts afresh with an Ashes series. Think the first final was a bit of foreign concept and it probably wasn't until we missed out that we thought that would be nice to be part of. So there's been a bit more on it in the last couple of years and pretty pumped to be here."
Pat Cummins says the concept of the WTC, and the desire to be part of a final, has grown on Australia's players over the course of its two cycles.

"No, actually the way he is batting at the moment, I don't think he needs any advice. It's just about his preparation, how he's prepared in the last five or six days since he's come back from the IPL [...] Gill is somebody who likes to bat, likes to spend a lot of time in the middle. I know even though it was the T20 format, you saw he got big hundreds [in the IPL]. He likes to be out there in the middle and face that challenge. That is what he likes and that is what I will also hope [he does in the WTC final]. And team India will also hope that he spends a lot of time in the middle and plays well like he's been doing in the last six or eight months. So to be honest, not really too much to tell him. It's just about giving him that confidence because he's a very confident player."
Rohit Sharma on whether he has any advice for his opening partner Shubman Gill.