India vs Australia 2023 World Test Championship (2021-23)

'Garden me khel rhe hain kya' - Fans react as Dinesh Karthik shares first look of pitch ahead of WTC final

Dinesh Karthik shared the first look of the pitch at the Oval two days before the WTC final between India and Australia.

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Akshay
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The Oval pitch

The Oval pitch (Source: Twitter)

The Oval pitch The Oval pitch (Source: Twitter)

Indian wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik recently arrived in London for his commentary duties in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, and he has started providing updates from the venue. With India and Australia set to lock horns in the Ultimate Test at The Oval from June 7-11, the veteran cricketer shared a first look at the pitch that will test the patience of the batters and bowlers for the next five days.

On Monday, June 5, Karthik took to his Twitter account to share a few pictures of the surface and asked fans to pick their playing XI after seeing the pitch. The surface was covered in green grass, but with the game still two days away at the time he tweeted, there could be some changes to the pitch before the game. "Two days to go for the #WTCFinal and this is how the pitch looks like. What is your playing XI gonna be?," Karthik wrote.

Jasprit Bumrah is a huge miss for any team: Karthik

Both India and Australia will be vying for the maiden Test title. India, led by Rohit Sharma, would be seeking to win this time after losing to New Zealand in the final of inaugural WTC.Β  However, they will face a tough challenge without four key members - KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer and Jasprit Bumrah.

Speaking about the Indian squad for the summit clash, Karthik had mentioned that the absence of speedster Bumrah is a huge miss for Team India.

"Jasprit Bumrah is a huge miss for any team and in any format as he's a force to reckon with. But a couple of key bowlers are in great form in Mohammed Siraj and Mohammad Shami who have bowled really well throughout the IPL," Karthik told the Cricket Governing Body.

"It's only a question of how much their bodies will be ready to play the rigours of five-day cricket. That is going to be the big question," he added.

Here's how fans reacted to the first look of the pitch at The Oval:

India Dinesh Karthik Australia IND vs AUS