Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle recently picked India’s playing XI for their World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. Significantly, Bhogle opined that Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat, Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj are the definite picks.
India will compete with the No. 1 ranked side, Australia, in the WTC final at The Kennington Oval in London from June 7 to 11. While players of both teams are busy preparing for the marquee clash, former cricketers and popular commentators have been revealing their best XI for both the finalists.
For the no. 8 and 9 slots, Bhogle said he would pick Ravichandran Ashwin or Shardul Thakur at 8 depending on the conditions and between Umesh Yadav or Jaydev Unadkat for the ninth position.
“I think 9 players pick themselves for India. Rohit, Gill, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Jadeja, Bharat, Shami, Siraj. Depending on conditions/instinct/form, no 8 could be Ashwin (my choice) or Shardul and no 9 Umesh or Unadkat,” Bhogle mentioned in his tweet.
There has been a constant debate over who would keep wickets for India in the absence of injured Rishabh Pant.
Bharat donned the gloves during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India earlier this year. However, he failed to contribute with the bat, scoring only 101 runs in six innings at an average of 20.20.
In the end, Bhogle mentioned that India might go for Ishan Kishan as a specialist keeper-batter if the Oval pitch looks good for batting.
“In very good batting conditions alone, India might consider Ishan ahead of Bharat,” added Bhogle.
I think 9 players pick themselves for India. Rohit, Gill, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Jadeja, Bharat, Shami, Siraj. Depending on conditions/instinct/form, no 8 could be Ashwin (my choice) or Shardul and no 9 Umesh or Unadkat. In very good batting conditions alone, India might consider…
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 2, 2023
For the unversed, it’s the second WTC Final for Team India as they lost to New Zealand on the reserve day of the match at Southampton’s Rose Bowl in June 2021.
