Ravi Shastri names his combined XI from India and Australia ahead of Test Championship final

Former India head coach and cricketer Ravi Shastri, recently, picked his playing XI combining the players from both India and Australia ahead of the Test Championship final, that is scheduled to be played at the Oval in London from June 7th to June 11th.

In his latest episode of Apex Cricket Council review, Shastri said that it was a difficult task to select players from the finalists of the Test Championship due to sheer talent among both sides.

In his playing XI, Shastri missed some of the big players from both teams. He mentioned Rohit Sharma as the skipper who will open with Australia’s Usman Khawaja. At number three, the former cricketer Marnus Labuschagne followed by Virat Kohli at number four and Steve Smith at number five.

“I would give the captaincy to Rohit because he’s much more experienced than Pat. He’s been around and he’s captained sides for a long time. If Steve Smith was captain of Australia, then maybe it’s a different story, but since it’s Pat Cummins and Rohit Sharma, Rohit wins it. Plus, you know, as a captain, you’re a certainty in the XI so he opens the batting,” Shastri said as quoted by NDTV Sports.

“It’s a tight one between Usman Khawaja and Shubman Gill. Shubman is the rising young star and he’s a terrific player, but Usman Khawaja, just by current form and the number of runs he’s got over the last couple of years, I think he gets in there. Number three is a no-brainer as Marnus (Labuschagne) has been outstanding in Test match cricket. He averages close to 60, so he gets in there straight away. Kohli at four for just what he’s done over the years and Smith at five for what he’s done over the years and the kind of quality they bring to the table,” he further added.

‘It’s a hard choice’ – Shastri

At number six, Shastri chose Indian spin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who will come before the wicketkeeper Alex Carey. Nathan Lyon was his second spin option, while Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Mohammed Shami will spearhead the pace attack.

“At No.6, I get in Jadeja, because I believe he is one of the best all-rounders in the world. The reason why I picked Nathan Lyon ahead of Ashwin is because of Nathan’s overseas record. Not just in Australia, but outside Australia and (Lyon is) probably stronger to bowl those overs in England if needed. So he comes in with Jadeja as the second spinner, with Jadeja more the all-rounder and Lyon the spinner,” Shastri said.

“(Pat) Cummins, of course, for me, he’s a top-class operator, and Mohammed Shami, he’s like vintage and he’s just getting better and better as we’re seeing in this IPL. And stronger. So he comes in there. It’s a hard choice (to settle on final XI) because Ashwin’s world-class, you’ve got Hazelwood world-class there and you’ve got (Cheteshwar) Pujara there who could be threatening. So it’s not easy,” he added.