Rohit Sharma, the captain of the Indian cricket team, chose to keep his cards close to his chest regarding the involvement of star spinner Ravichandran Ashwin in the upcoming World Test Championship final.

India is set to face Australia at The Oval, vying to be crowned Test world champions for the first time.

In their previous Test match at the same venue in 2021, India opted to exclude Ashwin from the playing XI, despite his exceptional record of 474 wickets at an average of 23.93 in 92 matches. Instead, they chose to field spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja alongside four seamers, resulting in a 157-run victory over England.

Both Ashwin and Jadeja are part of India’s 15-man squad for the WTC final.

Regarding the team combination, Rohit responded with a smile during a pre-match press conference, “In terms of the combination, it’s better we wait until tomorrow—that’s a common answer, I think.”

Early-season pitches in England typically do not offer much assistance to spinners, and Rohit noted that the pitch at The Oval, along with the overhead conditions, appeared to favor seam bowlers.

“When we played the last Test match here at The Oval, it looked very similar to this, and then as the game went on, it got better and better, slower and slower, and then the reverse swing came into play on the fifth day,” he explained. “We are going to consider all those factors.”

The upcoming match marks the second edition of the WTC final, with India having previously lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in the inaugural final in Southampton in 2021.

Rohit emphasized the team’s determination to learn from their mistakes in the previous final, stating, “The last time we played (in the final), we made a few mistakes, which we’ve already spoken about in this group. It’s a good challenge to have, and we know exactly what went wrong for us in the last Championship final, so hopefully, we won’t repeat those kinds of things.”

Australia, who will continue their stay in England for a five-match Ashes series, possess an impressive pace attack led by captain Pat Cummins. However, India has emerged victorious in their last four Test series against Australia, including a 2-1 triumph on home soil earlier this year.

“We’ve played against the opposition quite a bit in the last two or three months, so we know what they are capable of…the next five days will be quite challenging for us,” Rohit acknowledged.

It has been a decade since India’s last major International Cricket Council tournament win—the 50-over World Cup in 2013. Rohit expressed his desire to win titles and participate in extraordinary series but also emphasized the importance of not putting too much pressure on the team by overthinking such matters.