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India Get Down to Business With Intense Training Session Ahead of WTC Final | WATCH

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Last Updated: June 06, 2023, 13:44 IST

London, United Kingdom (UK)

Indian cricket team during training (Twitter/Screengrab)

Indian cricket team during training (Twitter/Screengrab)

The Indian cricket team trained hard ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia

The Indian men’s cricket team toiled hard in preparation for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval in London from Wednesday.

Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Surykumar Yadav stepped out for training as coach Rahul Dravid and captain Rohit Sharma spoke to the team in a huddle.

Dravid was seen keeping a close eye on the nets as Kohli, Rahane, Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara were seen having a bat. Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Shardul Thakur, as well as Jaydev Unadkat, were seen having a bowl.

WTC Final 2023, IND vs AUS: LIVE

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The WTC, a two-year cycle of games culminating in a final, was devised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in order to give Test cricket greater context.

India head coach Rahul Dravid feels that the World Test Championship has added context to the matches worth points.

“I really hope that, because of things like the World Test Championship when you have some context to a lot of these, to a lot of the bilateral games, not that they don’t have context in itself. Anytime you play for your country, play against someone else, there’s always context, and you always want to win those series.”

“But really hope that it will encourage a lot more teams to be able to potentially play a lot more Test cricket or to be able to find a way to play a lot more Test cricket. I know it is complicated and that it’s hard to go into depth in a press conference and there are a variety of reasons why that is probably not happening, both in terms of time, and finances, there are many things that go into it.”

“But certainly, we’d like to see a lot more Test cricket – personally at least, I’d like to see a lot more Test cricket being played. We do play a lot of it. England and Australia, are probably the other two countries that play a lot of it. But the point system actually allows everyone an opportunity to be able to play these,” said Dravid in the press conference ahead of the start of the WTC final on Wednesday.

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The India-Australia clash marks the culmination of the second edition, with New Zealand having defeated India in the inaugural 2021 final at Southampton.

Virat Kohli, ahead of the WTC final, said he is always motivated to do well against Australia as they seldom give opportunities to their opponents to excel.

“I understand that mindset that all 11 players are on the same page and they will look to capitalise on even an inch. So, my motivation increases against this team (Australia) that is so aware and competitive, I have to elevate my game,” Kohli said.

“The motivation and drive they have, they won’t let you comeback in the game. So I had to take my game to the next level,” Kohli added.

(With inputs from Agencies)

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