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Ahead of the ICC World Test Championship final, former India head coach Ravi Shastri has picked his combined playing XI from both India and Australia. In the latest episode of ICC Review, Shastri named his best combined XI and his choice surprised quite a few. For the former India batsman, only four of India’s stars made the cut – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami.
Shastri told host Sanjana Ganesan about his choice that Rohit Sharma is a more experienced option than Pat Cummins in terms of captaincy. Sharma, Rohit win it,” said the former India coach.
Shubman Gill, who has been in scintillating form these days, didn’t make the cut. It was tough for Ravi Shastri to choose who would open the batting with Rohit Sharma. Comparing Australia batsman Usman Khawaja and Gill, Shastri said, “Shubman is a rising young star and he is a brilliant player, but Usman Khawaja, the current form and the number of runs he has scored over the years, I think that they get. there.”
For former India batsman Marnus Labuschagne, who is ranked No.1 in the ICC Test rankings, is an easy inclusion in the playing XI. Ravi Shastri also picked Virat Kohli and Steve Smith for the middle order.
Between Cameron Green and Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Shastri picked the India all-rounder because of his abilities as a spinner.
Shastri found it difficult to drop Ravichandran Ashwin and go for Nathan Lyon in his XI, but chose on the basis of the Australian spinner’s overseas record.
In terms of fast bowlers, Ravi Shastri went with Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.
A veteran of India named him @upstox United XI for #WTC23 Last _
More _ pic.twitter.com/QVedF96l9y– ICC (@ICC) May 23, 2023
Team India will square off against Australia in the WTC final starting June 7 at The Oval. This is the second time that India has reached the final of the championship. In 2019, the team lost to New Zealand by 8 wickets in the summit clash of the World Test Championship.
This year some Indian players are going to reach England early to get used to the conditions. Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin have been relieved of their Indian Premier League duties and will start training early for the WTC final.
