The ultimate Test is finally here as India and Australia would go neck to neck with each other in the ICC World Test Championship Final. After toiling hard for two years, the two cricketing giants earned their place in the final and there’s one common goal for them both and that is to win the championship. The mega event will take place at the Oval, England from the 7th to the 11th of June and it remains to be seen who will emerge at the top this time around.
ICC World Test Championship Final: Nasser Hussain picks his India-Australia combined XI ahead of the WTC Final
As the ICC World Test Championship Final is just a finger count away from now, former English cricketer Naseer Hussain has picked his combined Indian and Australia XI. He picked a pretty balanced squad but what surprised many was he left out Indian all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Australian spinner Nathan Lyon.
Much like Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri, Naseer Hussain picked Rohit Sharma as the captain of the team. According to him, the Indian skipper is best to lead the side and open the innings. The other opener in his side is Australia’s, Usman Khawaja. Both these openers have been the the main reason behind the team reaching the final.
There was no brainer who Nasser Hussain picked at No.3, 4 & 5. The Australian duo of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith will be followed by Indian great Virat Kohli in his combined Indian and Australian team ahead of the ICC World Test Championship Final.
Naseer Hussain then picked Alex Carey as the keeper because there’s no surety in Indian camp who will keep the wickets. After that, he opted for lanky all-rounder Cameron Green instead of Jadeja and then also picked R Ashwin over Nathan Lyon on his team.
The pace attack that was chosen was quite lethal. Pat Cummins will be the leader of the attack whereas Mitchell Starc and India’s Mohammed Shami will be the other two pacers in his side.
Here’s Nasser Hussain’s combined India-Australia XI;
Rohit Sharma (c), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Mohammad Shami
ICC World Test Championship Final: Squads for Both India and Australia
Here’s the Indian squad for the ICC World Test Championship Final
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishan Kishan, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
Here’s the Australian squad for the ICC World Test Championship Final
Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner