India left out Ravichandran Ashwin from their side for the World Test Championship final starting on Wednesday as skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field against Australia at the Oval.

Off-spinner Ashwin is the world's top-ranked Test bowler, but with overcast conditions and a green-tinged pitch promising to assist the quicks, India opted for an attack of four seamers and spin-bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

A similar combination helped India defeat England by 157 runs when they last played a Test at the Oval in 2021, when Ashwin was also omitted.

“It is tough to leave Ashwin out,” said Rohit at Wednesday's toss. “He has been a match-winner for us. It is not a great occasion to leave him out but you have got to do what is best for the team in the given conditions.” Australia, as expected, preferred Scott Boland to Michael Neser in their pace attack, with under-pressure opening batsman David Warner straight into the game after Rohit won the toss.

The match, the second WTC final, comes after a two-year programme of games. New Zealand defeated India in the inaugural 2021 edition in Southampton.

The WTC remains the only major men's cricket trophy Australia have yet to win.

The fixture marks the start of a packed schedule of six Tests in eight weeks for Pat Cummins's side, including a five-match Ashes series against England.

Australia: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wkt), Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins (capt), Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India: Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Chesteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat (wkt), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj

Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL), Richard Illingworth (ENG) TV umpire: Richard Kettleborough (ENG). (AFP)

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