Harsha Bhogle picks his India playing XI ahead of WTC final against Australia

India and Australia will square off in the WTC final at The Oval from June 7 to 11.

By Salman Anjum - 03 Jun, 2023

There is a lot of buzz around the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia, slated to be held at the Oval from June 7 to 11.

Ahead of the marquee clash, veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle picked his India playing XI on the micro-blogging site Twitter.

According to him, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat, Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj are the definite picks.

While picking the bowling attack, Harsha said it would come down to between R Ashwin or Shardul Thakur for No. 8 spot depending on the conditions and between Umesh Yadav or Jaydev Unadkat for No. 9 slot.

In the end, Harsha Bhogle mentioned that India might consider Ishan Kishan as a wicketkeeper-batter if the Oval pitch will look good for batting.

With Rishabh Pant unavailable due to a horrific car accident, KS Bharat performed the keeping duties for India against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year.

Playing on turning pitches, Bharat scored 101 runs from six innings at an average of 20.20 with 44 being his highest score.

On the other hand, Kishan is yet to make his debut for India in the longest format of the game.

“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 Ishan ahead of Bharat,” Harsha tweeted.

 

By Salman Anjum - 03 Jun, 2023

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