Last Updated on 1 year by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: India possible 11 for WTC 2023 Final | Possible playing XI for India for the World Test Championship Final
There has been a lot of debate regarding how India could line up for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final next week.
Ravichandran Ashwin or Shardul Thakur? Umesh Yadav or Jaydev Unadkat? Srikar Bharat or Ishan Kishan? These are just some of the tricky questions that the Indian thinktank face. Let us take a look at what could possibly be India’s playing XI.
India’s possible playing XI for 2023 WTC Final: 1. Rohit Sharma (c), 2. Shubman Gill, 3. Cheteshwar Pujara, 4. Virat Kohli, 5. Ajinkya Rahane, 6. Ravindra Jadeja, 7. Srikar Bharat (wk), 8. Ravichandran Ashwin/Shardul Thakur, 9. Umesh Yadav, 10. Mohammed Shami, 11. Mohammed Siraj
Key questions for India ahead of WTC Final
To begin with, India have a choice to make between Ishan Kishan and Srikar Bharat. Recently, Ricky Ponting, former captain of Australia, said that he would personally go with Ishan Kishan because he believes the youngster provides an X-factor.
However, Kishan is yet to make his debut in Tests, and was dismissed for eight runs in the only T20I he has played in England. Thus, it is unlikely that India take such a big risk in an important game. Even though Srikar Bharat averages just 20 in his Test career so far, he might get the nod because he was part of the side when India faced Australia earlier this year in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and has experience playing red-ball cricket at the highest level.
How many pace bowlers should India play?
The decision regarding the number of pacers to play will pose another challenge to Rohit Sharma and the management. In English conditions, India are surely going to play a minimum of three pacers, with Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj guaranteed starters. As for the third pacer, India will choose between Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat.
India, having only one left-arm pacer in the squad, might consider giving Jaydev Unadkat a chance. But, with Umesh Yadav comes a lot of experience. The right-arm speedster has played 56 Tests for India, while Unadkat has played only a couple of Tests, one of them being in 2010. In the two Tests Umesh has played in England, he has taken nine wickets at an average just below 24.
If India is to play the fourth pacer, it will have to be in the form of Shardul Thakur, and this inclusion will be at the cost of Ravichandran Ashwin. Dropping Ashwin would be a huge call to make. With the likes of David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Travis Head and Alex Carey in the Australian side, the Indian off-spinner is probably going to be included in India’s XI due to the favourable match-up against left-handed batters and relatively dry conditions in London recently.
It will be interesting to see how India lines up for the massive game against Australia. The World Test Championship Final begins on June 7, and all eyes will be on the two sides to see who will be crowned champions.
