Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, and others join Team India's practice ahead of the WTC final
Team India stars Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, and Suryakumar Yadav joined the practice sessions ahead of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final. India are scheduled to lock horns with Australia in the summit clash at the Oval, starting on June 7.
Gill, Jadeja, and Rahane were part of the IPL 2023 final between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Gujarat Titans (GT) that took place on Monday, May 29. Suryakumar, on the other hand, played Qualifier 2 between Gujarat and the Mumbai Indians (MI) on May 26.
The BCCI shared snapshots of these cricketers attending their first practice session.
"The wait is over. Hello guys, welcome back! TeamIndia @imjadeja | @ShubmanGill | @ajinkyarahane88 | @surya_14kumar," BCCI captioned the post.
This is the first time the entire Indian contingent trained together ahead of the WTC final. They are likely to play an intra-squad game before the real test begins in a few days.
This will be India's second WTC final appearance. They reached the final of the first season in 2021 but lost to New Zealand by eight wickets in Southampton.
"He has some serious class" - Ricky Ponting hails Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill has joined the Indian squad on the back of a stellar campaign in the IPL. He finished as the highest run-scorer in IPL 2023 with 890 runs in 17 matches, with three tons and four half-centuries along the way.
Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting showered praise on the youngster. He also feels Gill's front-foot pull, which he plays very often, will come in handy against the Australian pace attack in the WTC final.
βHe looks like a terrific young guy," Ponting said on ICC Review. "He's got that bit of attitude about him as well. He's got a bit of swagger. He has some serious class. That sort of front foot pull shot that he plays against the fast bowlers will be a shot that he'll probably need against this Australian attack."
Gill has had a stellar start to his 2023 calendar year. He has already amassed 157 runs, including a hundred, in two Tests at an average of 51.33.