Veteran Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that India have the potential to outclass Australia in the upcoming World Test Championship final. The final match between the two superpowers of world cricket is to be played at the Oval in London from June 7. Gavaskar believes that India’s batting line-up has depth and they can easily bat only once.
I’m backing India to out-bat Australia because if you look at the Indian batting lineup, we have (Ravichandran) Ashwin at No.8, who has five Test hundreds and The Oval generally bats well. It’s a very good pitch to play on. You win the toss, get big scores on the first two days, then you don’t need to bat in the second innings,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
He also felt that the Indian players selected in the WTC final team should travel to England once their respective IPL teams pull out of the current IPL season. “I know the IPL ends on May 28, and the Tests begin on June 7. I’d like to see those players from those teams who are not eligible go to England sometime soon, maybe even play against club sides It will help him adjust to the conditions,” Gavaskar said.
Recently, India announced its squad for the WTC final and recalled veteran Ajinkya Rahane for the summit clash. In the absence of middle-order batsmen Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the selectors picked the experienced Rahane, who had an impressive Ranji Trophy season. Suryakumar Yadav lost his place while Sarfaraz Khan didn’t even get a chance.
Indian team for WTC final:
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.