WTC Final, IND vs AUS: Is Australia not playing warm-up game a concern? Alex Carey dissects

WTC Final 2021-23 will take place between India and Australia at The Oval from June 7. Meanwhile, the latter has opted against playing a warm-up contest before the grand finale. Although many feel it is a concern, Alex Carey remains confident.

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Australia wicketkeeper batter Alex Carey is confident about his team's preparations for next month's ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final and said the decision of not playing a warm-up game ahead of the summit clash can only be talked about in hindsight. Both India and Australia will not play a warm-up game ahead of the final beginning at The Oval in London from June 7.

Australia will stay back in the United Kingdom (UK) after the WTC Final for the five-Test Ashes against England beginning June 16. "The guys have all gone away and had individual programs over this [recent] period. We have had guys playing cricket here in England. The guys at the IPL and some guys at home spending some time there," Carey was quoted as saying by International Cricket Council (ICC).

"Coming together now we feel the excitement heading into the Test Championship and I think it will be a hindsight thing about whether or not we should have played a warm-up match. As a player, I feel like we will be ready come to that first match so I think it will be one of the things talked about after the Test match," he added.

Australia lost the recent series in India but made significant improvements throughout four games and even won a rank-turner in Indore. The team has taken heart from that. "We learned a lot... to be able to bounce back [from two-nil down] to win in Indore [in the third Test] showed a lot of character, and then the last Test was a draw," admitted Carey.

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"So, we walked away with a bit of confidence, knowing we were good enough in those conditions and there were just a few areas we would've liked to have cleaned up... and now, the grand final is here; this is what the last two years have led to. We'll wait and see what The Oval looks like too -- there might be some grass on it, it might be dry -- but it's a pretty special opportunity to play in a 'grand final', so to speak, and the Ashes is just around the corner, too," he concluded.

(With inputs from PTI)