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The day is not too far when India will face New Zealand in the much-awaited battle of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC). The summit clash will take place from June 18 to 22 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton.
Notably, the WTC final will be played with some modifications in the rules as well, like DRS Reviews, Short Runs and Player Reviews. Not only that, but a reserve day (on June 23) has also been set aside for making up for any lost time during the regular days of the game.
As the match-day is getting closer, many cricket experts have started revealing their analysis and prophecies concerning team combinations and the result of the game.
The latest to follow the trend is former England spinner Monty Panesar. The 39-year-old revealed his playing XI of Team India via Twitter.
Starting with the openers, Monty picked Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. Both Rohit and Gill have performed well in the recent past, and they enjoy each others company as well.
After the openers, Panesar selected the middle-order by placing Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane at number three, four and five, respectively. Among the current Indian slot, Kohli is the highest run-getter in Test cricket, with 7490 runs from 91 matches. On the other hand, Pujara has managed to score 6244 runs in 85 Tests, while Rahane has amassed 4583 runs from 73 matches.
The former Sussex player chose Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper and named Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin as all-rounders. Pant has proven his dexterity in the longest format, especially with his spectacular performance against Australia earlier this year. Similarly, Jadeja and Ashwin have built their stature as two of the most valuable players of the current Indian side.
For the pace attack, Panesar went with Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, and Mohammed Shami. This trio has been successful in puzzling out batters from various teams, and in the English conditions, all three bowlers would be quite lethal.
Here is Monty Panesar’s India’s XI for the WTC final:
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami.
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— Monty Panesar (@zkp_scroll) May 30, 2021
