The final match of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 between India and Australia is scheduled at The Oval in London from June 7 to June 11. With not much time left for the commencement of the summit clash, many cricket experts and former Indian cricketers have named their preferred playing XI of India for the marquee event. The veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh also joined the trend and shared his team combination for the Indian side, which might help last year’s runner-ups emerge victorious in the ultimate battle against Australia.
Harbhajan revealed his team combination on his official Youtube channel, where he not just discussed the perfect XI of the Indian team for the final but shared his views on Suryakumar Yadav‘s inclusion in the team. Notably, Suryakumar is among the three reserve players in the Indian squad.
Before picking the best eleven players who would be ideal to represent the country in the final, Harbhajan emphasized that the upcoming clash would be a challenging one for India. The former Punjab cricketer then went on to name Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as his openers, with Cheteshwar Pujara at no. 3. Meanwhile, he picked Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane as his no. 4 and 5.
In the process, Bhajji expressed his admiration for Kohli and acknowledged him as a great player. He even went on to laud Rahane for his outstanding performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season and appreciated the selectors for including the Mumbai batter in the squad.
The fifth position and wicketkeeper role in Bhajji’s eleven was assigned to Ishan Kishan. The World cup-winning spinner said that Kishan would be a strong choice for the position due to his ability to handle new balls effectively. He even asserted that Kishan could fill in the shoes of injured Rishabh Pant in the team as the Jharkhand cricketer’s style of play is very much similar to Pant.
Among bowlers, Harbhajan went with just one spinner, i.e. Ravindra Jadeja. Although he chose Shardul Thakur as his fourth seamer, he reckoned that Ravichandran Ashwin must be included ahead of him if the conditions on the match day are dry. Meanwhile, the main seam attack of Harbhajan featured Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav.
Harbhajan Singh’s India XI for the WTC Final 2023:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/ Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav
