‘Will Probably Stick With…’: Sunil Gavaskar Picks His India XI for WTC 2023 Final, Includes R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja

The final of the ICC World Test Championship will see India taking on Australia at The Oval from Wednesday onwards. For India, this is their second straight appearance in the summit clash while Australia will be playing in their maiden WTC final having missed out last time around thanks to deduction in points due slow over rate.

The two teams have stitched quite a rivalry with the last few of their bilateral engagements in Test cricket being dominated by India – home and away. Earlier this year, they were involved in a closely contested Border Gavaskar Trophy which India retained thanks to their victories in the first two Tests of the four-match series.

A new chapter to their famous rivalry will be added in the WTC final with the evenly matched opponents eager to rubber stamp their status as the world’s best Test team.

They have picked a balanced squad for the finale but it will be interesting who makes the eleven for the marque clash.

Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has revealed his India playing XI in which he has picked KS Bharat as his wicketkeeper while including both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.

“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 on Star Sports.

“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. 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,” he added.

The fast bowling department will be manned by Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and ‘maybe’ allrounder Shardul Thakur.

“No. 9, 10 and 11 will be Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj and maybe Shardul Thakur.”

Sunil Gavaskar’s India XI for WTC 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