"You may pick three fast bowlers" - Sunil Gavaskar selects India's playing XI for World Cup 2023 opener against Australia
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar picked his playing XI for the side's opening match of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup against Australia in Chennai on October 8. The arch-rivals just battled in a three-match ODI series in India that concluded with the hosts upstaging the five-time World Champions 2-1.
The Men in Blue finalized their 15-member World Cup squad on Thursday, September 28, with a quadriceps injury ruling out Axar Patel. Ravichandran Ashwin replaced him as the only change from the provisional squad announced earlier this month.
Speaking to Star Sports, Gavaskar felt Team India could go with three seamers, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami, or include a third spinner, with Hardik Pandya as the third seamer.
"You may pick three fast bowlers – Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. If they want to go with two seamers since they already have Hardik Pandya, then an extra spinner can be included. You can have Ashwin in the eleven," said Gavaskar.
"In any team, the top-three batters are quite important. A good start from the openers helps the others that follow to play freely. The contribution from the opening pair is going to be crucial," he added.
Team India has preferred to have a bowler who can bat at No. 8 in the Asia Cup and the Australia series. This has meant that only one of Shami or Siraj has featured in the playing XI in most instances.
Sunil Gavaskar's Team India playing XI vs Australia:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
"I want the Indian team to go with proper five bowlers" - Irfan Pathan
Former Indian pacer Irfan Pathan agreed with Sunil Gavaskar on India's top seven for the Australia clash of the 2023 World Cup but felt the side should take the field with five specialist bowlers.
The left-arm pacer asserted that the tracks could favor batters with the possibility of dew under lights, making the selection of five wicket-taking bowlers paramount.
"I agree with the top-seven. (But) I want the Indian team to go with proper five bowlers. You have Hardik as sixth bowler but you should go with bowlers having wicket-taking abilities. The pitches you will get now, there’s a possibility of dew so then you need to have a solid bowling throughout the world cup," said Pathan on Star Sports.
"So go with main bowlers be it three fast bowlers that include Siraj, Shami, and Bumrah. If you want someone to team up with Kuldeep Yadav, then go with a proper bowler in Jadeja if it’s on a turning track. Go with proper bowlers who only think about wickets. Your top-7 batters can take care of the runs," added Pathan.
Rohit Sharma's men will play two warm-up games — against England in Guwahati on September 30 and the Netherlands in Thiruvananthapuram on October 3.
The World Cup gets underway with the repeat of the 2019 final between England and New Zealand in Ahmedabad on October 5.