With the much-awaited World Test Championship (WTC) final less than a week away, predictions have started pouring in on the internet. Cricket experts have dished out their probable XIs of India and New Zealand while fans have picked their side for the summit clash in Southampton, scheduled to start from Jue 18th at the Hampshire Bowl.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar also joined the bandwagon to pick his India XI for the marquee event. The cricketer-turned-commentator went with many regulars but his side had two surprise omissions -- Senior pacer Ishant Sharma and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
Manjrekar, a couple of years ago, had stirred up controversy by calling Jadeja a 'bits and pieces' player during the 2019 World Cup. The Saurashtra all-rounder had also hit back by labelling Manjrekar's remark 'verbal diarrhoea'.
"I'm assuming you have typical English conditions. I'm assuming there will be a mixture of sun and cloudy cover throughout the five days of the Test match if it goes the distance. So I'm picking the team accordingly," Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.
The convincing Shubman Gill-Rohit Sharma duo at the top followed by the dominant troika of Pujara-Kohli-Rahane forms Manjrekar's batting line-up. Hanuma Vihari and Rishabh Pant are the next two names while R Ashwin is the lone spinner in the set-up.
On the bowling front, Manjrekar's XI consists of Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Siraj. Manjrekar justified his decision to keep Jadeja and Ishant out of his squad by pointing out 'unpredictable' English conditions.
"Going to have Hanuma Vihari to reward him for his brilliant innings (in SCG Test versus Australia) before he got injured. India will need somebody with more compact defensive technique. Because the guys at the top of the order barring Pujara aren't that kind.
"So I will have Hanuma Vihari at number 6. Pant at 7, considering India have hardly had any practice game. I just want to make sure the batting runs deep," he further said.
Sanjay Manjrekar's Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
