Former Indian World Cup winner Sunil Gavaskar feels that the Indian team needs only one change in their side for the high-octane World Test Championship final against Australia on the Oval and reckons that Ajinkya Rahane can make a comeback into the playing 11 replacing the injured Shreyas Iyer.
With IPL 2023, entering the 2nd stage, BCCI has announced the 15-men squad for WTC final on Tuesday, and Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur made a stunning return to the squad for the one-off match against Australia on June 7.
Many former Cricketers and experts want India to play KL Rahul in the middle order replacing the inexperienced KS Bharat from the starting 11. Speaking on Star Sports, Cricket Live show, Gavaskar was elated with Rahane’s inclusion in the side and also questioned about the wicket-keeper spot in the playing 11.
“That was the only change needed for the Indian side. They needed a replacement for Shreyas Iyer. Ajinkya Rahane finds himself in the WTC squad not because of his current IPL form, mind you, he was in a pretty decent form in the Ranji Trophy. He did very well for Mumbai in the domestic season. The question now is in the final eleven, who’s going to be playing? Whether it will be KS Bharat the wicket-keeper or KL Rahul. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Sunil Gavaskar said.
Ajinkya Rahane has reinvented himself in this edition of the Indian Premier League, adding a new dimension to his batting, playing at a high strike rate in the middle order. Ranji Trophy for Mumbai, Rahane scored 634 runs in seven Ranji games for Mumbai in the 2023 season, while in seven matches last season, he scored 133 runs.
Sunil Gavaskar Picks His Choice Of Playing 11 Against Australia
Sunil Gavaskar picked his choice of Playing 11 for the World Test Championship final against Australia. The Indian legend wants experienced Ajinkya Rahane and KL Rahul to play in the final and wants left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat to play over Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur against Australia.
“Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will be my opening picks, Cheteshwar Pujara at three, Virat Kohli at four, Ajinkya Rahane at five, KL Rahul at six who’ll keep the wickets as well. Then there will be Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin, followed by Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Shami, and Mohd Siraj,” Sunil Gavaskar concluded.
India will take on Australia in the 2023 WTC Final at Kensington Oval on June 7, 2023, with a reserve day on June 12, and will look to end the ICC title drought in England. Team India lost the inaugural edition of the WTC Final in 2021 against New Zealand.