Ravi Shastri Picks India XI For WTC Final vs Australia, Includes This CSK Star

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has picked his XI for the Rohit Sharma-led side ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) against Australia, starting from June 7 at the Oval in London. Shastri, who coached India to the WTC Final in 2021, picked Ajinkya Rahane in his probable XI, while also admitting that Jasprit Bumrah's absence will hurt India's chances in the game. Rahane has looked in great touch in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season, and was recalled to the side after an injury to Shreyas Iyer.

"The way he's timed the ball, the way he's looking at T20 from a different perspective. 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 numbers of balls he's played, which is good and which augurs well," Shastri said on the ICC Review.

While highlighting his performances in the domestic circuit, as well as the IPL, Shastri suggested that Rahane has earned his place in the team.

"It just goes to show (what happens) when you go through the grind; you go back to domestic cricket. He's earned his place in that World Test Championship side," he added.

Shastri added that while Bumrah's injury is a huge setback for India, he has complete faith in the players selected for the final.

"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 added.

Ravi Shastri's predicted India XI

Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, KS Bharat (wk), Shardul Thakur, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj.