Team India qualified for the World Test Championship final for the second successive time after Sri Lanka lost the first match of the 2 match Test series vs New Zealand in a thrilling finish on Monday. A huge credit goes to Kane Williamson who hit unbeaten 121 runs and Daryl Mitchell who scored a quick 86-ball to pull off an impossible win and put Sri Lanka out of the race for the WTC final.
India will take on Australia in the final of the WTC at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11. This will be the first time in 20 years when India will face Australia in the Final of an ICC men’s event.
Here’s Is India’s Best Predicted Playing 11 For The World Test Championship (WTC) Final:
Openers: Rohit Sharma & Shubman Gill
Rohit Sharma and in-form Shubman Gill are likely to be India’s primary openers for the WTC final. KL Rahul is unlikely to be picked as an opener due to his bad form.
Middle Order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, & Shreyas Iyer/Sarfraz Khan/Suryakumar Yadav
Team India is likely to go with the same players in the middle – Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, & Shreyas Iyer. If Shreyas Iyer is unfit due to his recurring back pain, in-form Sarfaraz Khan or Suryakumar Yadav could take his place. Suryakumar Yadav failed to impress in the 1st Test and Sarfaraz Khan is in red-hot form. Hence, Sarfaraz Khan is likely to get the preference over Suryakumar Yadav if Shreyas Iyer is unfit.
Wicketkeeper: KS Bharat
Team India made Bharat do wicketkeeping in all the 4 Tests vs Australia. Hence, KS Bharat is likely to get the preference over Ishan Kishan in the WTC final too as Bharat did pretty well in those matches.
Fast Bowling All-rounder: Shardul Thakur/Hardik Pandya
Shardul Thakur is India’s go-to fast bowling all-rounder in Test Cricket. However, as per a latest report, BCCI will have a meeting with Hardik Pandya before the WTC Final to decide his Test future. So, if he agrees, he could get the preference over Shardul Thakur.
Spin Bowling All-rounder: Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja is likely to get the preference over Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel because of his batting abilities which is better than both.
Fast Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, & Mohammad Shami
In absence of Jasprit Bumrah, Team India is likely to go with their best pace attack in the form of Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, and Mohammad Shami.