Kishan over Bharat, two spinners in Aaron Finch’s Indian playing XI for WTC final

Former Australian white-ball captain Aaron Finch recently picked his Indian playing XI for their World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. Significantly, Finch chose Ishan Kishan over KS Bharat as the keeper-batter and also named two spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, in his team.

Team India will take on Australia in the WTC final at The Kennington Oval in London from June 7 to 11. While both teams are busy preparing for the mega clash, a number of former cricketers from the two nations have been sharing their views on the playing XI for both teams.

Recently, Finch also picked his preferred playing XI for India for the WTC final. In a video on Star Sports, he named Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma Cheteshwar Pujara, and Virat Kohli as the top four in the batting line-up, as expected. For the next two positions, he opined:

“I think [Ajinkya] Rahane will get recalled at No. 5. I think Ishan Kishan will get the nod as wicketkeeper and bat at No. 6.”

There has been a constant debate over who should keep wickets for India in injured Rishabh Pant’s absence.

Bharat donned the gloves during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India earlier this year. However, he failed to make an impact with the bat, scoring only 101 runs from six innings at an average of 20.20.

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“The Oval pitch can spin quite a bit” - Aaron Finch on picking two spinners

On the decision to pick two spinners in Ashwin and Jadeja for the WTC final, Finch explained that The Oval surface is expected to offer assistance to the slower bowlers.

He elaborated:

“[I am] going in with two spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The Oval pitch can spin quite a bit later in the game, so I think that would be really important.”

The 36-year-old also named all-rounder Shardul Thakur and pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj in his India playing XI for the WTC final.

Summing up the team, Finch described it as a really well-balanced unit with a lot of experience.

‘They have got wicket-takers with the new ball. They’ve got the option of Shardul Thakur, as the extra quick along with the two spinners. If we combine all that, I think it becomes a very well-rounded and very good team,” the Aussie concluded.

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Aaron Finch’s India playing XI for WTC final: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (captain), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.