India captain Rohit Sharma had no hesitation to send Australia in, with The Oval wicket sporting a green tinge in the first Test to be played there this early in the summer.
India made the bold call to leave out the world’s No.1-ranked bowler Ravichandran Ashwin, opting instead to play a fourth quick.
That will leave allrounder Ravindra Jadeja as the sole spinner despite Ashwin having taken 114 wickets at 28.36 against Australia.
Australia have named their expected XI with Scott Boland the third seamer after Josh Hazlewood was ruled out with a side strain.
Albeit with one eye on the Ashes, Australia have insisted this match is of significant importance to them.
A win will ensure they have collected the one last trophy available to them and become the first side to win world championships in all three formats.
Players had put a particular emphasis on qualifying for the final for the past two years, after missing out on the inaugural decider courtesy of an over-rates penalty in 2021.
India did lose that final to New Zealand and are in pursuit of their first world title in any format since the 2011 ODI World Cup.
AUSTRALIA: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon.
INDIA: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.