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Predicting India’s Playing XI For WTC Final If The Team Qualifies And Everyone Is Fit

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Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant
Photo Source: Twitter

Everyone’s mind is now on the World Test Championship Final that will happen later this year in Lord’s. It will be a prestigious honour for any team to win the championship. Test Cricket is the most superior version of the game, and it will be a great achievement to actually prove yourself as the best squad on the planet in this format.

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While New Zealand will be one of the finalists, either India or Australia will take on the Kiwis. At the moment, it’s looking like the men in Blue will make it to the finals. If that does happen, it will be interesting which XI will represent India. We predict the likely playing XI for Team India, assuming that everyone would be fit and available by that time.

Openers: Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill

Rohit Sharma might have played less red-ball cricket in England before, but he must be in the XI due to his experience and good form. Irrespective of the pitch conditions, Rohit Sharma can sometimes dominate the bowlers and score runs. This will be important for the squad. Although he is a bit out of form, Gill has settled in the squad and must be the preferred choice for the final. There is an understanding developing between Rohit and Gill, and it is best to continue it.

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Middle-Order: Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (C), Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant (WK)

Cheteshwar Pujara
Photo: Cheteshwar Pujara/Instagram

Not only the WTC final, but it will also take a few more months for the management to make any change to this middle-order. There is the experience of Pujara, Virat and Rahane, all of whom have played in English conditions before. So has Rishabh Pant, who is also improving his wicket-keeping skills drastically in recent days. Hence, Team India will stick with this core for the WTC final if they qualify.

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All-Rounders: Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin

Any English pitch is likely to assist the seamers more than the spinners. Hence, Team India might choose Hardik Pandya as the all-rounder for this game. Hardik will come into the XI in place of Ravindra Jadeja, who would have played the game had it been in India. Yes, Hardik is short on recent test-match game-time, but he has been with the team and would have played a lot in nets. Ravichandran Ashwin is a man in form and is undroppable at the moment.

Bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah

While Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah are certain to play, there will be intense competition for the third-pacer spot. Mohammed Shami is likely to be fit by that time, but he is short on game time. On the other hand, there is Mohammed Siraj, who is in red-hot form but lacks experience. There is the factor of Umesh Yadav as well. However, solely for his ability to influence games in the second innings, Shami is likely to get the nod ahead of Siraj.