Sunil Gavaskar Named Team India’s XI For WTC Final 2023 Against Australia

Sunil Gavaskar Named Team India’s XI For WTC Final 2023 Against Australia: Team India and Australia are all set to lock their horns in the upcoming blockbuster clash in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final 2023. The game will be played at The Oval in London, starting on June 7th.

Team India is coming into the summit clash as the slight favorites, having won their last Test series against Australia earlier this year.

Meanwhile, ahead of the much-awaited WTC Final 2023, legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has picked the star-studded XI of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming clash.

Sunil Gavaskar Named Team India’s XI

Sunil Gavaskar

For the opening position, Gavaskar picked Rohit Sharma and the in-form Shubman Gill before reserving the No.3 and No.4 batting positions for veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara and run-machine Virat Kohli. He said:

I will talk about the batting and that will be Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as one-two. No. 3 is (Cheteshwar) Pujara, No. 4 is (Virat) Kohli, No. 5 is Ajinkya Rahane. No. 6 is where there is just a little bit of a concern,”

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli. Image-BCCI

Ishan Kishan or KS Bharat?

Sunil Gavaskar also settled the ongoing Ishan Kishan vs KS Bharat debate for keeping wickets for India in the upcoming summit clash. He preferred Bharat over Kishan. He said:

“I would imagine No. 6 would be either (Srikar) Bharat or Ishan Kishan. They are talking about Bharat because he has played all these matches so far. So will probably stick with Bharat at six,”

Further, talking about the pace bowling attack of the Indian cricket team, Gavaskar feels Shardul Thakur can complement the fast bowling duo of Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj. He said:

“No. 7 will be (Ravindra) Jadeja. If it’s a bright day and a bright prediction, then I think you are looking at Jadeja and (Ravichandran) Ashwin at No. 7 and No. 8. No. 9, 10 and 11 will be Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and maybe Shardul Thakur,”

Gavaskar’s India XI for World Test Championship final:

Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur.