For the upcoming WTC final, the BCCI released the 15-men squad. While the usual suspects are included, Mayank Agarwal & Axar Patel are both axed by the cricket board. While Mayank Agarwal was the much-lauded hero of the series won and played Down Under earlier this year, Axar Patel gave sensational performance in India’s series victory over England later this year.

Contents hide
1. Details
2. India’s final playing 15 for the WTC Final
3. BCCI Takes Leap of Faith on Shubman Gill
4. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar Axed
5. 5 Pacers, No leg spinners
6. BCCI Prefers Age over Beauty
7. How Kohli will select bowling department
8. WTC Final: The Journey So Far

Details

The BCCI announced India’s 15-member team for the upcoming ICC World Test Championship final which will see India take on Kiwi at the Southampton’s Ageas Bowl starting June 18. The update comes weeks after the cricket board announced the playing conditions for the same.

Earlier it was announced the team strength would be at 20 players. However, 5 players – Axar Patel, Mayank Agarwal, Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar – have not been given a green-nod.

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India’s final playing 15 for the WTC Final

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (Captain), Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Wriddhiman Saha.

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BCCI Takes Leap of Faith on Shubman Gill

The WTC final will be the perfect opportunity for opener Shubman Gill to concrete his position in his team and play a rooted inning with his opening partner Rohit Sharma. While there were rumours of Mayank Agarwal opening with Rohit Sharma, the rumour was squashed by the BCCI announcement.

Gill has given uneven performances this year. Gill started off with flying colours and played 4 consecutive matches scoring 80, 81, 98 & 79 cumulatively giants Australia and England. But his last 3 innings were underwhelming with him scoring 14, 15 and 0.

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Axar Patel, Washington Sundar Axed

The BCCI also made an interesting decision by not taking a leap of faith on Axar Patel. The cricket board instead went on with the truly tried and tested bowlers and reaffirmed the notion of ‘if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’.

5 Pacers, No leg spinners

Indian squad is now equipped with 5 crucial pacers – Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Siraj, & Mohammed Shami. Given the fact that the trio of Bumrah, Sharma & Shami have been massively successful and have scalped wickets left and right, the team will continue with the trio. It should be interesting whether the team is able to fit Siraj in some place, given how successful he was in series Down under.

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BCCI Prefers Age over Beauty

By waving goodbye to Washington Sundar & Axar Patel, BCCI also made an arguably questionable decision of having no leg spinners at all. Now only veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and all-rounder-spinner Ravindra Jadeja will be available to Kohli in the form of spinners.

While Sundar is an all-rounder who sparked up a half-injured Indian team in the Ind VS Australia series earlier this year, Axar Patel took 27 sensational wickets in series against England. By axing both, BCCI clearly showed its intent of preferring experience over random outbursts of glory.

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How Kohli will select bowling department

The ultimate decision regarding the bowling department will depend on whether skipper Kohli wants a combination of 3 fast bowlers & 2 spinners or 4 pacers and part-time spin bowlers. Kohli’s decision will depend on factors such as weather & pitch condition.

In the wicket-keeping department, Rishabh Pant will be obviously favored by the skipper, given his sensational performances with bat and behind the stumps. However, in case of unforeseen injury, Kohli will have an option of Wriddhiman Saha to wear gloves.

WTC Final: The Journey So Far

The WTC final between India and Kiwis will many ways looked by cricket fans as the former’s chance to take the ICC World Cup 2019 revenge. In most ways, parallels can be drawn between the scheduled Test final and the 2019 World Cup.

In the WTC championships, both the teams have played some sensational cricket to meet each other in the final. New Zealand has beat India, Pakistan & West Indies to reach the final. India has defeated Australia, England to make its way to the final.