Former India selector MSK Prasad advised captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid to avoid making the same selection errors made in the previous World Test Championship final.
In the 2021 final against New Zealand, India's decision to include two spinners, Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin, backfired due to the overcast conditions at Southampton.
Prasad insisted on the importance of assessing the conditions at The Oval before finalizing the playing XI instead of going ahead with a pre-determined mindset when they take on Australia in this edition of the WTC from June 7.
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What did MSK Prasad advise the Indian Team management?
“We went with two spinners and three fast bowlers in the mind but subsequently there was rain, we should have changed our plans, somehow we stuck to the same playing eleven. But that is in the past,” said the former India wicketkeeper to news agency PTI.
“It all depends on conditions at The Oval. The is the actual story of the movie, the pitch and conditions. We don’t know how they will be over five days, so we should not pre fix our mind and understand the conditions and back your instincts,” he added.
MSK Prasad prefers KS Bharat ahead of Ishan Kishan
With Rishab Pant unavailable, India have to choose between KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan for the wicketkeeper-batter spot. According to Prasad, Bharat should be the unanimous choice as he has experience of playing red-ball cricket in England with India A.
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“It is a pretty straightforward call to pick Bharat (over Ishan Kishan). It is really tough to fill the shoes of Rishabh especially in an away series. In the history of entire India cricket, no other wicketkeeper batter has hundreds in England, South Africa and Australia, so it’s very difficult to replace him.
"You need to have a wicketkeeper who is fit and fine for 100 overs. This is a Test match and we need to think from that aspect. But if you are thinking you can have Ishan Kishan, Bharat has been tried and tested and has played India A in England, so they might end up going with him,” said Prasad.
Tough to choose between Ashwin and Jadeja, admits Prasad
India might face a selection dilemma if they decide to go with four pacers as they will need to leave out either Jadeja or Ashwin. Prasad admits that this will be a tricky choice as both of them have been equally impressive in recent times with both bat and ball.
“Jadeja has been so good of late that he can play as a specialist batter. It is a tricky call considering what both can bring to the table, it is hard to ignore. Ashwin with his 400-plus wickets and he is someone who is who can bowl on any surface. If it comes to that, it will be a very tough call,” he said.
What is India's squad for WTC Final 2023?
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ravichandran Ashwin, KS Bharat, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Axar Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadakt, Umesh Yadav.
Reserves: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav
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