Former Indian cricket team skipper Sunil Gavaskar picked his preferred playing XI for India in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against Australia and it came with a couple of surprises. In the race for wicket-keeper, he picked KS Bharat to retain his position as he has been playing for the side regularly. Gavaskar also went with two spinners at the Oval and three pace bowlers but added that this strategy will work on a “bright day” and any change in playing conditions will change the combination.

“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,” Gavaskar said.

“I would imagine No. 6 would be either (KS) 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,” he added.

When it comes to the bowling department, Gavaskar went with both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja along with three pacers – be Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur.

“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,” the former India skipper said. “No. 9, 10 and 11 will be Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and maybe Shardul Thakur.”

Sunil Gavaskar’s predicted XI for WTC Final:Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur