Australia, India finalise squads for World Test Championship final
Both teams submitted their final squads to the ICC on Sunday, with Australia trimming their original 17-player squad by two to land on the 15 players that will take on India in south London from June 7.
Ricky Ponting selects a combined XI from the Australia and India line-ups set to meet in the ICC World Test Championship final 2023
Experienced seamer Josh Hazlewood had initially been selected in the 15-player group, but has been replaced in the Australia squad due to ongoing side soreness picked up in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Michael Nesser replaces Hazlewood in the squad, with ICC confirming the change on Sunday.
The Australia squad warmed-up for the ICC World Test Championship final with a round of golf at Formby Golf Club and kicked off with a longest drive competition
Australia's standby players include all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and Matt Renshaw, while UK-based Australians Neser and Sean Abbott will also play a role in the team's preparations when they reach London in early June.
Back-up keeper Josh Inglis and Nathan Lyon's understudy Todd Murphy have been included in the final squad.
Ravi Shastri selects a combined XI from the Australia and India line-ups set to meet in the ICC World Test Championship final 2023
Meanwhile, India have made no changes to the 15-player squad they named following KL Rahul's withdrawal due to injury, although uncapped youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal earns a late call-up as a standby player on the back of his excellent recent efforts in the IPL.
Jaiswal was in fine form for the Rajasthan Royals, accumulating 625 runs from 14 matches at a strike rate of 163.61.
Ravi Shastri selects his standout young players at the IPL on The ICC Review that could still feature at the 2023 ICC Men's Cricket World Cup.
He will replace Ruturaj Gaikwad as one of three standby players for India, with the left-hander already holding a visa for England and able to fly to London immediately.
He joins fellow white-ball star Suryakumar Yadav and uncapped seamer Mukesh Kumar as the standby options for India, with the trio joining the squad of 15 in London in coming days as both sides prepare for the eagerly-awaited contest.
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Michael Neser.
Standby players: Mitch Marsh, Matthew Renshaw
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk)
Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav