The veteran Indian wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik has picked up his expected Indian playing XI for the WTC final against Australia. Surprising everyone, Karthik has dropped R Ashwin from his eleven and has suggested team India go with the four main pacers.
The cricketer now a part-time commentator Dinesh Karthik feels that R Ashwin would not provide that stability to team India at the Oval as this pitch suits the pacers best. Speaking to Cricbuzz, Karthik opines that the playing condition of the WTC final venue is going to help the seamers rather than the spinners.
The RCB wicketkeeper said, “Leave out Ashwin and play four pacers. I enjoyed Ashwin bowling in Southampton, but – is the coach gonna do the same thing again? I doubt it.”
Choosing his three prime pacers, Dinesh Karthik said that Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami must be definite by Rohit Sharma.
“Umesh Yadav has bowled well in the nets. He is looking sharp, and feeling good body-wise. I have a strong feeling they’ll go with Umesh.”
However, the stats of R Ashwin against Australia is superbly amazing. The veteran off-spinner has played only 22 Test matches against Australia and picked 114 wickets.
If the team management leaves out R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur would be the fourth option for fast bowling. Including Thakur is always a genius decision as the player will provide the strength to Indian playing XI both with his batting and bowling.
The final of the ICC World Test Championship is just one day to go and both India and Australia are ready to take over each other in this 5-day battle. The match will be played from June 7 at the Kennington Oval in London.
