Consisting of players from ICC World Test Championship (WTC) finalists, former India coach Ravi Shastri has picked a special combined India-Australia XI. With the summit clash is just two weeks away, in the latest episode of ICC Review, Shastri was given a challenging task to of selecting a combined playing XI. The abundance of world-class talent on both teams made the process difficult, but Shastri took a bold stance and finalized a final XI, which included seven Australian and four Indian players.
Shastri gave the responsibility of captaincy to Rohit Sharma and mentioned had if Steve Smith was leading the Aussies in place of Pat Cummins, he would have gone with Smith instead of Rohit.
“I would give the captaincy to Rohit because he’s much more experienced than Pat. He’s been around and he’s captained sides for a long time. If Steve Smith was captain of Australia, then maybe it’s a different story, but since it’s Pat Cummins and Rohit Sharma, Rohit wins it. Plus, you know, as a captain, you’re a certainty in the XI so he opens the batting,” said Shastri.
Shastri felt difficult pick to the opening partner of Rohit given the strong contenders in the mix such as Shubman Gill and Usman Khawaja. The former India cricketer went with Khawaja citing his recent record in the longest format.
“It’s a tight one between Usman Khawaja and Shubman Gill. Shubman is the rising young star and he’s a terrific player, but Usman Khawaja, just by current form and the number of runs he’s got over the last couple of years, I think he gets in there,” added Shastri.
When it comes to t No.3, No.4 and No.5, Shastri quickly made his decision and went with some obvious choices such as Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli and Smith. He said: “Number three is a no-brainer as Marnus (Labuschagne) has been outstanding in Test match cricket. He averages close to 60, so he gets in there straight away/Kohli at four for just what he’s done over the years and Smith at five for what he’s done over the years and the kind of quality they bring to the table.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator picked Ravindra Jadeja for the all-rounders’ spot while Alex Carey for the wicketkeeper’s position. Shasti named Nathan Lyon as the lone spinner mentioning that he selected the Aussie off-spinner instead of Indian star Ravichandran Ashwin because of Lyon’s excellent overseas record.
“At No.6, I get in Jadeja, because I believe he is one of the best all-rounders in the world he reason why I picked Nathan Lyon ahead of Ashwin is because of Nathan’s overseas record,” explained Shastri.
The ex-Indian all-rounder picked three pacers – Cummins, Mohammad Shami and Mitchell Starc to complete his special XI.
“(Pat) Cummins, of course, for me, he’s a top-class operator and Mohammed Shami, he’s like vintage and he’s just getting better and better. I would take Starc because of pace and variety being the left-armer,” added Shastri.
Ravi Shastri’s combined India-Australia XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Ravindra Jadeja, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Mohammad Shami.
