WTC final: Irfan Pathan picks India's XI against New Zealand, no place for Ravindra Jadeja

The World Test Championship final is hours away as India and New Zealand meet each other in the summit clash to claim ultimate glory. Given India’s immense strength and a giant pool of options, the skipper Virat Kohli and the rest of the team management are going to face multiple dilemmas before reaching the final XI for the marquee clash.

The opinions have been pouring in about what should be an ideal team for India to ace the Kiwi challenge and the latest one to join in is India’s prolific all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who took to Twitter to announce his best set of eleven. The former India player admitted that it was “difficult to leave out” Ravindra Jadeja as he went on to prefer a “pure batsman” in Hanuma Vihari, while he opted for the experience of Ishant Sharma over Mohammed Siraj.

Pathan’s XI has Ravichandran Ashwin as the lone spinner while he chose Rishabh Pant as the wicketkeeper. “My India Playing XI for #WTCFinal Rohit, Shubman, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Vihari, Pant, Ashwin, Shami, Ishant, Bumrah. I am tempted to go with Siraj but preferring the experience of Ishant. Difficult to leave out Jaddu but want to prefer pure batsman in Vihari. What say tweeples?” read his tweet.

My 🇮🇳 Playing XI for #WTCFinal Rohit, Shubman, Pujara, Virat, Rahane, Vihari, Pant, Ashwin, Shami, Ishant, Bumrah. I am tempted to go with Siraj but preferring the experience of Ishant. Difficult to leave out Jaddu but want to prefer pure batsman in Vihari. What say tweeples?

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) June 17, 2021

India’s selection quandaries 

The biggest selection headache going ahead for India seems to be the choice of pacers and spinners. While a host of experts have weighed in their opinion about playing both Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, India might as well incline towards playing all four pacers in Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Ishant Sharma subjected to the conditions.

While the trio of Bumrah, Shami and Ishant has reaped extraordinary success in the last few years, Siraj was nothing short of impressive during his debut series against Australia Down Under, where he rather appreciably led the bowling attack in the absence of Indian bowling mainstays, who were missing due to a spate of injuries.

That said, the venue for the WTC final, Ageas Bowl, Southampton, is one of the spin-friendly locations, contrary to the norm of pace-assistive conditions in the United Kingdom. A final decision regarding the eleven, however, will be taken only once the team gets a view of the surface for the clash.