WTC Final 2023: Gavaskar, Pointing reveal their playing XIs for India, Australia

Team India has already added Ishan Kishan to their star-studded squad as first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and back-up gloveman KL Rahul are injured.

According to Gavaskar, he has named Shubman Gill as the opening partner of skipper Rohit Sharma, while reserving batter Cheteshwar Pujara and run-machine Virat Kohli at No.3 and No.4. He has also kept Ajinkya Rahane at number 5. At the same time, who will bat at number 6 is a concern.

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“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,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

However, Gavaskar prefers Andhra star Srikar Bharat over Kishan for the number 6 position, citing his performance in the entire Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

On the bowling front, Gavaskar observed seamer Shardul Thakur could complement the fast bowling duo of Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj in the final. “No. 7 will be (Ravindra) Jadeja. If it’s a bright day and an optimistic 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 added.

Here’s Gavaskar’s India XI for the 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.

On the contrary, while revealing the playing XIs for both teams, Australian Cricket legend Ricky Pointing said Australia is ‘slight favorites’ over India to win the ICC WTC final against India.

Looking at the stats, India and Australia have faced off in 106 Tests, where India won 32 matches, Australia got 44 wins, and 29 games ended in a draw.

Here are the Pointing’s XIs for the WTC final:

India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, and Ishan Kishan (wk).

Standby players: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, and Suryakumar Yadav.

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Todd Murphy, Michael Neser, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, David Warner

Standby players: Mitch Marsh, and Matthew Renshaw.

Updated: 05 Jun 2023, 08:52 PM IST