WTC Final: After IPL 2023 heartbreak, Virat Kohli, Siraj among other players to leave for England

Heartbreak is all it was for Virat Kohli who saw his ton go to waste as his side Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was knocked out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Playoffs. In fact, they incurred one of their worst finishes on the points table since 2019, when they had finished last.

Now with Kohli's team out of the Playoffs, he and seven other Indian players will be heading to England to gear up for the big World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 Final clash against Australia at The Oval.

According to Sportstar, Kohli will be accompanied by his RCB teammate Mohammed Siraj, spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel, all-rounder Shardul Thakur and pacers Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat.

Unadkat and Umesh were out with injuries during the IPL 2023 season and according to the report, both the pacers have passed the fitness test at the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Mukesh Kumar, who is on the reserve list, is also travelling to England with the initial group of Indian players. Aniket Choudhary, Akash Deep, and Yarra Prithviraj are three additional pacers who India will use as net bowlers for the WTC championship. They were chosen by the BCCI selection committee.

As for Cheteshwar Pujara, the batsman is already in England because he is representing Sussex in county cricket. He has been in outstanding form, having led the team and scored a couple of tons for his side.

The remaining players - Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Mohammad Shami, K S Bharat and Ajinkya Rahane - will head to England after their IPL duties.

While most Indian players have been involved in the two-month-long IPL 2023 season, talking about the Aussies, only three players were part of the cash-rich tournament. 

Last week, former Australia captain Ricky Ponting pointed out the same saying that the Aussies will be mentally better prepared for the final than the Indians.