BCCI announced a 20-member squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand and five-match Test series against England on Friday.
As soon as the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended to the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the bio-bubble, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had a job at their hand to select the squad for the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, next month followed by a five-match Test series against England.
The All-India Senior Selection Committee sat down Friday and selected a mostly predictable 20-member squad led by skipper Virat Kohli, with Ajinkya Rahane being named his deputy. The selectors also named KL Rahul, who is suffering from acute appendicitis and wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, with respect to fitness.
Apart from the original squad, the BCCI also named four standby players as is the norm in the post-COVID world, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Arzan Nagwaswalla. However, pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all-rounder Hardik Pandya and left-arm googly bowler Kuldeep Yadav were the notable names who missed out.
From the 20-men selected, most of the team picks itself and with the return of Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami, Team India will likely be going with a full-strength line-up with Rohit Sharma as the opener, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane forming 3,4 and 5 with Rishabh Pant at No 6.
There will be a discussion whether they would want to play with two spinners in Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin or play a bowling all-rounder in Shardul Thakur at the expense of one spinner in seaming conditions at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, England in addition to the trio of Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.
Team India's predicted XI for WTC Final against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja/Shardul Thakur, Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami
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