Ravi Shastri names his India XI for the ICC WTC final against Australia

India lost the last WTC final against New Zealand under Ravi Shastri's tenure as head coach.

The ICC World Test Championship final is scheduled to start on 7th June at The Oval in London. Team India will be taking on Australia in the big clash. This will be India’s second consecutive WTC final. They played the previous one against New Zealand and lost the match. Indian Premier League Final 2023 is scheduled on 28th May at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium in Ahmedabad. Team India will have only one week to regroup for the big game against Australia. Ravi Shastri, having tasted defeat as head coach in the previous final, is worried about the Indian team combination. Team India are currently dealing with multiple injury issues as well. Former coach Ravi Shastri has picked his playing XI to take on Australia. 

Team India facing injury challenges

Indian Cricket team will be playing without two of their biggest match-winners in the red-ball format. Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant are out of the WTC final due to injuries. Pant suffered a massive accident in December last year. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul are also out due to injury. Keeping all the combinations in mind, Shastri has picked his playing XI to take on the Aussie challenge. Shastri said in an interview with ICC media, “India did very well in England last time round because you had Bumrah, Shami, Shardul, and Siraj… you had 4 pacers, one being an all-rounder. That combination is very good in England and allows Rohit to control the game for better.”. 

Shastri suggests India will go with two spinners

The former Indian coach has batted for Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja both in the team. He said, “You've got horses for courses, you have got all bases covered but then if the quality is not there in the pace attack. If you think the guys are older or they are not as quick as they used to be and the form is doubtful then you play that second spinner as Ashwin is quality as is Ravindra Jadeja”. India went with the two spinners in WTC Final 2021, where they were routed by New Zealand. He further added, “Weather in England keeps changing, as it’s sunny at the moment so there's a very good chance that India will go with 2 spinners, 2 pacers, and an all-rounder”. 

In batting, Ravi Shastri has suggested that Shubman Gill will become an automatic choice for India in the opening combination along with the captain Rohit Sharma. KL Rahul is absent due to an injury. According to Ravi Shastri, Ajinkya Rahane will get back his number 5 position in the Indian test team. In Shreyas Iyer’s absence, selectors gave Rahane another chance. Talking about the Australian bowling line-up Shastri felt Aussie will go with 3 pacers, one spinner, and an all-rounder in Cameron Green. Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood are the three pacers and Nathan Lyon will play as spinner. 

Ravi Shastri’s India Playing XI for WTC final

Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (WK), Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj