Former India player and head coach, Ravi Shastri has recently picked his playing XI for India for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship.
India is all set to take on Australia in the final which will be played at The Oval from the 7th of June. This will be a rather fierce battle for the mace between the two sides.
But, before the tournament, Shastri feels that India will pick their team based mostly on the weather conditions in England.
For him, however, a combination of two spinners and two pacers is an ideal one for this tournament and against the Aussies.
Says Shastri on India’s combination,
If the track is hard and dry, you would want two spinners to play for sure. I think it goes a lot with the weather in England. I believe it’s sunny now at the moment, but you know, English weather, how it can change in the month of June. So, there’s a very good chance India will go with two spinners, two fast bowlers and an all-rounder. That will be the combination.
Adding further, he says,
And then there’ll be five batsmen and the wicket-keeper, so six batsmen. So, if all conditions stay normal at The Oval, then this would be my combination, but you’ve got to have the quality to be able to put those guys out in the park.
Ravi Shastri says that Ajinkya Rahane has earned his spot in the WTC Squad
Meanwhile, Shastri is full of praise for batter Ajinkya Rahane who has finally earned his spot in the WTC squad.
The former head coach also feels that Rahane has got this calling because of his superb batting performances in the ongoing IPL.
Additionally, with KL Rahul out of international cricket with a thigh injury, Shubman Gill will most likely be Rohit Sharma’s opening partner in the tournament.
Says Shastri on Rahane,
The way he’s timed the ball, the way he’s looking at T20 from a different perspective. It just goes to show (what happens) when you go through the grind, you go back to domestic cricket. He’s earned his place in that World Test Championship side. Now you’ll have to see closer to the event what that final XI will be.
Shastri’s India XI for WTC Final against Australia
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Follow Six Sports on Twitter for more.
