"A very good chance India will go with two spinners" - Ravi Shastri predicts India's XI for WTC final

Former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri has unveiled his India playing XI for the World Test Championship (WTC) final next month. The marquee fixture will take place against Australia from June 7-12 at The Oval.

Shastri, who had one of the most successful coaching stints, took into account the conditions and the squad to opine on his eleven. The squad went through a major change recently as Ishan Kishan replaced the injured KL Rahul.

Speaking to Sanjana Ganesan in an episode of the ICC Review, the 60-year-old opined that India could play two spinners, given the conditions in England at this stage. He feels the bowling attack will also have two fast bowlers and one all-rounder.

"If the track is hard and dry, you would want two spinners to play for sure," Shastri said. "I think it goes a lot with the weather in England. I believe it's sunny now at the moment, but you know, English weather, how it can change in the month of June.

"So there's a very good chance India will go with two spinners, two fast bowlers and an all-rounder. That will be the combination. And then there'll be five batsmen and the wicket-keeper, so six batsmen."

Shastri admitted that India had a formidable bowling unit with Jasprit Bumrah in their armoury in 2021. The former all-rounder has also advised Rohit Sharma on how to go about his captaincy in England.

"India did very well in England last time round because you had Bumrah, you had Shami, you had Shardul Thakur, and you had Mohammed Siraj," he said. "So you had four fast bowlers. One being an all-rounder there.

"That combination is a very good combination in England. Especially from India's point of view. It allows someone like Rohit Sharma to control the game far better. At times in England, you need to slow it down as well. And suddenly it can get overcast."

Rohit, who succeeded Virat Kohli as Test captain, hasn't captained in an overseas red-ball game yet. Hence, the WTC final against 2021 will be a stern exam for the opener.

"He's earned his place in that World Test Championship side" - Ravi Shastri on Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane. (Image Credits: Getty)

Speaking of Ajinkya Rahane's comeback to the fold, Shastri believes his improved T20 stints augur well for India and he hopes to see him score big runs in the final.

"The way he's timed the ball, the way he's looking at T20 from a different perspective," Shastri said. "He's not looking at the number of runs, he's looking at the number of balls he's playing as against that. What is the strike rate with those number of balls he's played, which is good and which augurs well.

"He's earned his place in that World Test Championship side. Now you'll have to see closer to the event what the final XI will be."

Rahane last played a Test in January 2022 and was dropped after a poor South Africa tour.