India and Australia are all set for a blockbuster clash in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The match will be played at The Oval in London, starting on June 7.
India comes into the match as the slight favorites, having won their last Test series against Australia. But the Kangaroos will be no pushovers and have a wealth of experience in their squad.
The match is expected to be a close contest, with both teams having the potential to win. The conditions at The Oval will be critical, and former India legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar named his starting eleven for the men in blue and identified one area of concern in the star-studded batting lineup.
“I will talk about the batting, and that will be Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as one-two. No. 3 is (Cheteshwar) Pujara, No. 4 is (Virat) Kohli, No. 5 is Ajinkya Rahane. No. 6 is where there is just a little bit of a concern,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
“I would imagine No. 6 would be either (Srikar) Bharat or Ishan Kishan. They are talking about Bharat because he has played all these matches so far. So will probably stick with Bharat at six,” Gavaskar observed. Talking about the pace bowling attack of the Asian giants, the former India skipper asserted that seamer Shardul Thakur can complement the fast bowling duo of Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj in the final. “No. 7 will be (Ravindra) Jadeja. If it’s a bright day and a bright prediction, then I think you are looking at Jadeja and (Ravichandran) Ashwin at No. 7 and No. 8. No. 9, 10 and 11 will be Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and maybe Shardul Thakur,” Gavaskar added.
Gavaskar also named his Indian playing XI for World Test Championship final, which looks like this –
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.
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