Harbhajan Singh gives his verdict on India leaving out R Ashwin from WTC Final playing XI

IND vs AUS: India have gone ahead with four pacers in WTC 2023 Final. Ravichandran Ashwin couldn't be accommodated in starting XI of World Test Championship Final against Australia due to conditions at Oval as said by skipper Rohit Sharma. re were doubts about wher Rohit Sharma would gamble with two spinners on this green surface which is destined to offer help to seamers. Shardul Thakur was called in place of veteran spinner and it remains to be seen wher move pays off or backfires. Interestingly Ravichandran Ashwin is top-ranked bowler as dfar as Test format is concerned.

Harbhajan Singh was t surprised to see India opting to include Shardul instead of former Chennai Super Kings spinner. Ashwin has been one of stalwarts in longest format and leaving him out of starting lineup was a brave decision. Harbhajan stated he's t surprised to see Indian lineup in WTC 2023 Final. 

Harbhajan Singh gives his verdict on India dropping R Ashwin

During an interaction with Star Sports, veteran spinner said, “I am t exactly surprised looking at se conditions. Eir you play R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja. Unfortunately, R Ashwin misses out from this team. Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and top five and six look very very good."

Read More: WTC Final, IND vs AUS Live Score

winner of 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup also added that he thought Ishan Kishan would be preferred ahead of KS Bharat who has been a consistent presence behind wicket. “We were thinking Ishan Kishan might get a d ahead of Bharat, but that didn’t happen. But it’s good to see India playing with four seamers." Indian captain Rohit Sharma won toss and decided to send Australia to bat first in an overcast condition.

WTC final playing XIs

Australia XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland

India XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj