‘You’ve got to pick the team for that one game ‘ – Former England captain shares his thoughts on who should open with Rohit Sharma in Test Championship final

India and Australia will be clashing against each other in Test Championship final which will take place at the Oval Stadium in London from June 7 to June 11, and the Indian Cricket Board on Tuesday (April 25) unveiled a 15-member squad for the match. Suryakumar Yadav was withdrawn from the squad after just one game, while former Indian Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was reinstated, which was one of the surprises for the Indian cricket team fans. 

Cricket fans and experts have been debating India’s starting XI since the squad was revealed, and many cricket experts have already named their playing XI for the biggest Test clash of the year. Meanwhile, former England captain Michael Vaughan also voiced his opinion. He said that Shubman Gill should not start for India in the championship match, which sparked an interesting discussion regarding the perfect XI for India for the high-profile match.

“The only change that they could make in English conditions, is that KL Rahul plays the moving ball better than Shubman Gill. Shubman’s a tremendous young player, but you’ve got to win that one game of cricket. Forget history, it’s about picking the best XI to win the World Test Championship. When it’s straight, Shubman is a dangerous player but I’ve seen a few little technical deficiencies. When the ball moves, he takes his hand little bit too much towards the ball. He snicks off quite consistently.

Don’t pick a team on what’s next: Michael Vaughan 

However, two of the major talking topics in the lineup for the important match on Tuesday were Suryakumar’s withdrawal and Rahane’s inclusion. Suryakumar got a chance to play a Test match against Australia but he failed to produce anything special and never got the chance again. On the other hand, Rahane will be donning the Test jersey after 15 months. Vaughan also mentioned that the Indian team management should pick their prime squad as it is the biggest clash for them.

“I’m not sure they will do that (replacing Shubman with KL Rahul) because I’m not in the selection room. (But) don’t pick a team on what’s next, or who’s going to play in the West Indies… you’ve got to pick (the team for) that one game of cricket,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.