[Pictures] Ricky Ponting unveils Test mace for WTC final between IND & AUS

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting on Friday, May 19, unveiled the Test mace for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final. The two-time World Cup-winning captain opted for a blue T-shirt and spent quality time with kids on the special occasion.

Sharing the picture on Twitter, ICC captioned the post:

“The Test Mace. Australia legend Ricky Ponting unveiled the trophy for the #WTC23 Final today in the company of some future stars!”

For the uninitiated, the much-awaited WTC final will be played between Team India and Australia at the Oval in London from June 7. While India will be playing their second final, the Aussies have reached the summit clash for the first time.

The development came after Pat Cummins and Co. topped the WTC points table with 11 wins in 19 games (66.67 win %), while India won 10 out of their 18 matches (58.80 win %) during the 2021-23 cycle. Meanwhile, the Proteas were ranked third with eight wins in 15 matches (55.56 win %) and narrowly missed out on the WTC final.

India will look to finally win the WTC final after they lost to the Kane Williamson-led New Zealand by eight wickets in the 2021 final under Virat Kohli’s captaincy.

Rohit Sharma and Co. are likely to get a boost with in-form Cheteshwar Pujara, who has smashed three centuries for Sussex in the ongoing County Championship Division Two.

They, however, have received jolts in the form of KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Jaydev Unadkat's injuries.

While Ishan Kishan replaced Rahul, Iyer made way for Ajinkya Rahane's comeback. The BCCI is yet to take a final call on Unadkat.

Meanwhile, Australian vice-captain Steve Smith (Sussex) and Marnus Labuschagne (Glamorgan) are also gearing up for the ICC’s marquee event and the Ashes.

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India and Australia squads for the WTC final

India’s squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).

Standby players: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav.

Australia’s squad: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner.