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Australia and India will face off in the final Test match of the 2021-23 World Test Championship cycle beginning Wednesday, June 7 at 5:30 a.m. ET from The Oval in London. Australia are making their first WTC final appearance, while India are back after losing the inaugural WTC final in 2021.
You can catch all the action on Willow TV. You can catch a livestream on willow.tv, but you will likely need a subscriber login. You may be able to access Willow through third-party streaming services as well, such as Sling TV.
Australia vs. India
Date: Wednesday, June 7 - Sunday, June 11
Time: Play starts at 5:30 a.m. ET each day
TV channel: Willow TV
Live stream: willow.tv
Odds, picks & predictions
Australia: -165
India: +120
Moneyline pick: India +120
These teams played a four-Test series in March 2023, with India winning two matches. Australia won one match, and one ended in a draw. The teams haven’t changed much since then, but some of the lineups will be different. This Test is in England, while those four matches were in India. That switch in the venue favors the Australian team, but India have the experience of being in a WTC final.
Australia are 100% going into this match, while India will be without Jasprit Bumrah as he continues to recover from back injury. India do have enough pace bowling to make up for Bumrah’s absence, and they’ll need it given the conditions.
Australia’s batting lineup will be interesting to see. David Warner has the legacy opening spot due to his accomplishments, but Usman Khawaja had the superior form against India of late and Cameron Green is in good touch as well. Warner could miss out here assuming Travis Head and Steve Smith are locks for the playing XI.
There’s a good reason Australia are favored, as they have the better overall batting and bowling units based on current form. However, India may have the best player on the field in Virat Kohli. In a one-off Test match, Kohli can stand up and deliver for India. After failing to produce a big score in the 2021 WTC final, now could be the time for Kohli to have a nice comeback effort.
It’s a one-off match and not a series, so it makes more sense to take India as the underdog given the outsized impact of one or two events which may not be consistently occurring over a Test series.