WTC 2023 Final: Aakash Chopra picks India's ideal XI for marquee event against Australia, leaves out Ravichandran Ashwin

The World Test Championship final 2023 is almost here as India and Australia get ready to face off in the summit clash from Wednesday, June 7 at the Oval in London. The two teams will be a part of history as it will be the first-ever that a Test will be played in June at The Oval. Hence, it’s difficult to predict what the pitch will offer at the historic venue. 

One of the biggest conundrums that team India will face heading into the game is picking the best team combination for the venue to dominate Australia. With the talks of the perfect playing XI all around, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra weighed in his opinion and gave his ideal Indian playing XI for the summit clash.

Chopra went ahead with KS Bharat as the wicketkeeper batter of the XI ahead of Ishan Kishan. On the other hand, the commentator also excluded star off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and went ahead with the all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, and Ajinkya Rahane are the five batters in Chopra’s team while Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur are the four seamers.

Aakash Chopra@cricketaakash

1.Rohit 2.Gill 3.Pujara 4.Kohli 5.Rahane 6.Jadeja 7.Bharat 8.Thakur 9.Shami 10.Umesh 11.Siraj Here’s my playing XI for Team India tomorrow…what’s yours? 🫶 #AakashVani #AusvInd #WTCfinal

07:13 PM · Jun 06, 2023

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India under pressure to end their trophy drought

Notably, it will be India’s second consecutive appearance in the WTC final after they got beaten against New Zealand by 8 wickets in the inaugural edition. Hence, the Rohit Sharma-led side will be eager to turn the tables this time around. Moreover, India will be under serious pressure as they haven’t won an ICC title since 2013 and will be desperate to end their trophy drought by winning the final.

Therefore, captain Sharma will have to field his best possible playing XI to script history as both India and Australia have a chance to become the first team to win all the ICC titles. Both teams have won the ODI World Cup, Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup and hence have a great chance to complete their trophy cabinet by winning the World Test Championship as well.