Two years of dominance something to savour: Cummins

With the exception of a few skittish moments – most demonstrably the first morning and the fourth evening – Australia's clinical dismantling of India at The Oval added an emphatic exclamation point to more than two years of plotting then put into practice.

Stung by their failure to reach the inaugural World Test Championship decider in mid-2021 due to a tactical oversight and a rare home series defeat, Australia's men's team locked focus on the one glaring absence from their otherwise complete set of world titles.

Heightening their motivation – after penalty points inflicted for a tardy over rate meant the maiden Final was fought between New Zealand and India – was the sight of their trans-Tasman neighbours lifting aloft the gilded mace bestowed upon the pre-eminent Test outfit, the Black Caps' first major global trophy.

On the back of unblemished home campaigns against England (4-0), West Indies (2-0) and South Africa (2-0), Pat Cummins' team reversed a recent inability to win offshore with a hard-earned 1-0 triumph in Pakistan and 1-1 drawn series in Sri Lanka before their 1-2 defeat to India earlier this year.

But by the time they were caught short on tailor-made spin pitches at Nagpur and Delhi, Australia had qualified for the play-off game at The Oval in the unprecedented Test timeslot of early June, and duly earned their status of world's best with a 209-run demolition over four-and-a-bit days.

Unlike the ICC's showcase white-ball tournaments that are staged in single geographic locations that ensure all competing teams square off in uniform conditions, the Test Championship demands excellence on a variety of pitches, in vastly differing climes.

For Cummins – who, like fellow WTC Final squad members Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Marsh, was a member of Australia's title-winning squads at the 2015 ODI World Cup and its 2021 T20 counterpart – it's the degree of difficulty in their latest success he cherishes most.

"I think that's one of the most satisfying bits," the captain said in the wake of Australia's win that was achieved after India's batting imploded with the loss of 7-55 on the final morning.

"Obviously the win here, but to make it to the final you've got to win everywhere in the world.

"I think this cycle was 20 Test matches, and we might have only lost three or four out of the 20.

"The boys were fantastic the whole way through. We adapted well and that's what makes it so satisfying."

While India refused to concede until the final hours, despite chasing the game for much of the preceding days after their skipper Rohit Sharma opted to bowl first at last Wednesday's coin toss, Australia could lay claim to a deservedly justified win given their dominance across the qualifying period.

Over the 20-match stretch dating back to December 2021 where Starc kick-started his team's quest for the 2023 play-off by castling England opener Rory Burns with the very first delivery of their journey, Australia were pacesetters in all aspects of the Test game.

Including the Final win over India, they had four batters in the top 10 runs-scorers over the two-year qualification period – Usman Khawaja (1,621 at 64.84), Marnus Labuschagne (1,576 at 52.53), Smith (1,407 at 52.11) and Player of the Match in the decider Travis Head (1,389 at 55.56).

By contrast, India's top-order batters were notable absentees from the top 10 with only Virat Kohli (932 at 32.13) and Cheteshwar Pujara (928 at 32.0) sneaking into the top 20.

It was a similar story among the bowling returns leading up to and including India's second consecutive unsuccessful tilt at the WTC crown.

Three of the leading 10 wicket-takers were members of Australia's attack, led by top-ranked Nathan Lyon (88 wickets at 26.12), followed by Cummins (fifth with 57 at 22.15) and Mitchell Starc (sixth with 55 at 27.98) while India had two representatives in that cohort.

The fact the highest-placed of those – off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (61 wickets at 19.67) – wasn't selected in the starting XI at The Oval with selectors preferring left-arm allrounder Ravindra Jadeja (10th on that list with 47 at 23.68) tells its own tale.

But an even more instructive narrative exists around seamer Scott Boland, whose entire Test career fitted within the WTC Final qualification window.

Plucked from relative obscurity to replace injured Hazelwood in the 2021 Boxing Day Test against England, Boland made a meteoric impact in that game and almost every other he played over the ensuing 18 months, crowned by a crucial spell on Sunday morning that set up his team's victory charge.

Of the almost 70 bowlers to claim 10 or more wickets throughout the two-year WTC qualification period, nobody recorded a lower average than Boland's extraordinary 14.57 (with 33 wickets) at a strike-rate of a breakthrough every 37.84 balls which was second only to South African Kagiso Rabada's 34.80.

Having snared India's batting threat Kohli, and then the always dangerous Jadeja in the space of three balls on Sunday morning, Boland was described by Cummins post-game as "my favourite player".

"I feel like we're starting to become too used to Scotty Boland just doing that," Cummins said of his unerring quick's capacity to change the course of Test matches.

"He just keeps finding another level, doesn't he? He's unbelievable. He was our best bowler all game, held it together and didn't go for many runs.

"He always looked threatening and to get two wickets in a row was just reward for how well he bowled throughout the whole game."

Another key to Australia's outstanding record across 19 Tests and the final was undoubtedly their consistency in selection, with the same core group – notwithstanding injuries to, and workload management of fast bowlers throughout the journey – featuring in most matches.

But given a bulk of their current WTC squad are aged 30 or over, with only top-order batters Labuschagne (28) and Head (29) as well as allrounder Cameron Green (24) below that threshold, Australia can be expected to field a vastly different outfit should they reach the 2025 Final.

Certainly 36-year-old David Warner has already indicated his farewell Test campaign will come against Pakistan in the next Australia summer, while his opening partner Usman Khawaja (also 36), Smith (34), Lyon (35), Boland (34) and Starc (33) would be at lengthening odds to all be playing two years hence.

As afternoons clouds rolled in across south London, and the victorious Australia players engaged in a low-key celebration with their families in The Oval dressing rooms and on the verdant outfield, Cummins understandably conceded he had not turned his mind to how his team might be transformed.

"I haven't given that any thought," he said. "I have always said if a team member is 18 or 38 and still is in our best XI, I want them picked.

"I think there will be natural progressions.

"But I don't think there will be us kicking anyone outside of the team or pushing anyone out of the team prematurely."

However, attention will need to swing to the team's evolution in the not-so-distant future given the next iteration of the WTC for the 2023-2025 qualifying window gets underway against England at Edgbaston on Friday.

The four-day turnaround from a global grand final to the start of Australia's most important men's offshore Test assignment – an Ashes quest – will ensure any deeper reflection on the scope of Sunday's achievement will have to wait until later in the year.

Although there is also the not inconsequential matter of a 50-over World Cup title to be decided in India, where Australia have not managed to land an ICC trophy since their inaugural success at the ODI tournament in 1987.

As a result, Cummins foresaw a suitably measured party to commemorate a hard-won Test title before his men returned to the practice nets eyeing their first Ashes series win in the UK since 2001.

"I think we'll sit around in the changing rooms for a while, and then we'll find a nice sunny English beer garden somewhere this afternoon to sit back and celebrate," he said in the immediate aftermath of Australia's win.

"It's been an amazing two years. We've had this final in the diary for a while. It's been something that we've been building up for, so it's something we're going to savour.

"I know we've got a big series (against England), but we can worry about that in a couple days' time.

"You only get a few of these moments in your career where you can sit back, acknowledge a pretty special achievement and this is one of those times."

World Test Championship Final

June 7-11: Australia v India, The Oval

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

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

Find out everything you need to know for the World Test Championship Final here