Harbhajan Singh names India's playing XI for WTC final, picks KS Bharat ahead of Ishan Kishan
Harbhajan Singh recently picked India's playing XI for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Kennington Oval, starting on Wednesday, June 7.
The Indian players are currently fine-tuning their skills ahead of the summit clash. This will be India's second appearance in the WTC final, losing to New Zealand by eight wickets in Southampton two years ago.
With a couple of days still left for the game to get underway, Harbhajan Singh picked his ideal playing XI for the clash against the Aussies. The cricketer-turned-commentator named an obvious batting unit, with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill as his openers. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane formed the middle order.
Harbhajan then picked KS Bharat as his wicketkeeper ahead of Ishan Kishan. While a section of former cricketers have backed Ishan as the first-choice keeper given his exploits with the bat, the former off-spinner went with Bharat.
The 2011 ODI World Cup winner then picked Ravindra Jadeja as his lone spinner if India go in with four seamers in the WTC final. In that scenario, Harbhajan picked Shardul Thakur as his fourth fast-bowling option.
On the other hand, if Rohit and Co. pick two spinners, Harbhajan named Ravichandran Ashwin as the second option alongside Jadeja.
Harbhajan concluded by picking his three seamers, namely Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav.
Harbhajan Singh's playing XI for the WTC final: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur/Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Umesh Yadav.
India's squad for the WTC final
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.