Former India cricketer and head coach Ravi Shastri recently picked Team India’s playing XI for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. The all-important match is scheduled to be played at the Oval, starting on June 7. After an exciting two months of IPL cricket, the Indian players have reached the UK to prepare for the WTC final. They have had a couple of training sessions and are likely to prepare an intra-squad game.

He picked skipper Rohit Sharma and young batting prodigy Shubman Gill as his openers and then named Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane to be his middle order.

“When you look at the WTC, if I remember from the last time India were in the final, it’s very important to pick a team that suits the conditions,” Shastri said in a video shared by Star Sports. “Last time in Southampton, the weather was very overcast. Hence, I will pick my 12. My 12 will be Rohit, Shubman, Pujara at 3, Virat at 4, Ajinkya Rahane 5,” Ravi Shastri said.

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Ravi Shastri also backed keeper-batter Ishan Kishan to make his Test debut if the side decides to play four seamers. However, Shastri also feels fellow wicketkeeper KS Bharat will get the chance as well.

“A choice has to be made between KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan,” Shastri said. “I have a feeling that India go depending on who is playing. If two spinners are playing, maybe KS Bharat. But if there are four seamers and one spinner playing, then it might go the other way.” Ravi
Shastri shared.

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India’s squad for the WTC final:

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, and Ishan Kishan (wk).

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, and Suryakumar Yadav.