Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has chosen his combined playing XI from both India and Australia ahead of the ICC World Test Championship Final. Only four Indian players made it to his best combined XI- Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mohammad Shami.
While speaking about his choices, Shastri explained that Rohit Sharma is a more experienced option than Pat Cummins in terms of captaincy. He further said, “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.”
Shubman Gill, who is currently in great form, did not make the cut in Shastri’s playing XI. For opening the innings with Rohit Sharma, Shastri preferred Australia’s Usman Khawaja over Gill, stating that Khawaja’s recent form and the number of runs he has scored over the past couple of years earned him the spot in the team.
Shastri also picked Marnus Labuschagne, who is ranked No. 1 in the ICC Test rankings, along with Virat Kohli and Steve Smith in the middle order. Between Ravindra Jadeja and Cameron Green, Shastri chose the India all-rounder due to his abilities as a spinner.
Shastri faced a tough decision when choosing between Ravichandran Ashwin and Nathan Lyon, but he went ahead with Lyon based on his overseas record. The former India coach picked Mohammad Shami, Pat Cummins, and Mitchell Starc as pacers for his team.
India is scheduled to play against Australia in the WTC final starting from June 7 at The Oval. Some Indian players, including Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, and Ravichandran Ashwin, will arrive in England early to acclimate to the conditions before the final match.