There is no place for Ravindra Jadeja in Sanjay Manjrekar's India playing XI for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. The match is scheduled to be played at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton from June 18.
Manjrekar picked only R Ashwin as the lone spinner in the team considering the conditions in England. He also kept Hanuma Vihari to make up for the batting strength in the absence of Jadeja.
Speaking in an ESPNCricinfo video, Manjrekar said, "I'm assuming you have typical English conditions. I'm assuming there will be a mixture of sun and cloudy cover throughout the five days of the Test match if it goes the distance. So, I'm picking the team accordingly."
Manjrekar wants India to have a deep batting line-up against New Zealand and he placed Vihari to bat at number six over Rishabh Pant.
"Going to have Hanuma Vihari to reward him for his brilliant innings before he got injured. India will need somebody with a more compact defensive technique. Because the guys at the top of the order, barring Pujara, aren't those kinds. So I will have Hanuma Vihari at number 6. Pant at 7, considering India has hardly had any practice game. I just want to make sure the batting runs deep," he added.
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Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were picked for the opening spot, followed by Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane, which is the usual batting line-up for Team India.
Apart from Jadeja, Ishant Sharma was also not picked by Manjrekar in his India XI, and instead, he went for Mohammed Siraj.
"Want Siraj, the swing bowler to be brought into the equation, and the last time Siraj bowled overseas in Australia, [he] got a five-wicket haul. Hard to leave a bowler like him out.
You will be tempted to think of Siraj because when you look at Shami, Bumrah, and Ishant, they are more seam bowlers, hit-the-deck kind of bowlers. Siraj might offer something different. I would go with Siraj, but India might play Ishant for obvious reasons," he added.
Sanjay Manjrekar's playing XI for WTC final:
Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), R Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
(ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
