WTC 2025 Final: Here's How India's Test XI Might Look If BCCI Axe Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli

WTC 2025 Final: Rohit Sharma and Co. have suffered a shocking series defeat in their home conditions against New Zealand. This is India's first home series loss in 12 years and also the very time that India have lost a three-match home Test series. The Kiwis have exposed Indian batters. India's inability to play both seam and spin has been baffling and there has been a lot of noise around Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli 's current form and their future.

The magnitude of the loss has been so big that the former India cricketers have also questioned the team's intent and their preparations. Sachin Tendulkar who rarely speaks out on issues called out for an introspection. Both Rohit and Virat couldn't even surpass the 100-run mark in their six innings and this has been concerning. The doors have virtually shut for India as far as the World Test Championship (WTC) is concerned. In order to qualify for the WTC Finals, the Indian team has to win four Test matches out of the five that they play in Australia later this year.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has reportedly called a meeting to analyse the shocking series defeat and the future of the senior players such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. There are also reports that the senior players might be phased out if India fail to qualify for the World Test Championship Finals.

Here's How India's Test XI Might Look After Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin

The openers: Rohit Sharma, the current captain of the Indian team has been the designated opener of the team across all formats. Rohit might miss the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener due to personal reasons. India youngster Abhimanyu Easwaran has been included in the Indian squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. If Easwaran performs well and if Rohit Sharma decides to call it quits, Easwaran might very well continue to open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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The number three: Shubman Gill has been India's designated number three for quite sometime now and has grown from strength to strength. Gill has been Pujara's perfect successor and has bailed out India on numerous occasions. Shubman Gill looks like the perfect choice to play at the number three spot for India in Tests.

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India's number four and five: The number four spot has been dominated by Virat Kohli for many years now. Kohli's cricketing predecessor Sachin Tendulkar too batted on the same spot and Virat has justified the slot with his performance over the years. But Kohli is at the fag end of his career and his stay in the Indian team might be limited, but if he is to be phased out, then KL Rahul is somebody who can make the spot his own considering that he performs well. As far as the number five spot goes, there is no debate about Rishabh Pant playing there, who also is India's designated wicketkeeper.

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Lower middle order: There will be a fist fight between Dhruv Jurel and Sarfaraz Khan. Both Jurel and Sarfaraz have got very limited opportunities and still have a very long way to go, but one of them certainly will grab the number six spot in the long run. As far as the number seven spot is concerned, it might very well be acquired by Washington Sundar once Ravichandran Ashwin leaves.

The bowlers: This department looks more or less sorted. If Ravindra Jadeja too leaves, Kuldeep Yadav might replace him in the XI. But apart from him, the likes of Jasprit Bumrah , Md. Siraj and Akash Deep form a very strong bowling attack.

Abhimanyu Easwaran, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel / Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep

Is The Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Era Ending?

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are under the scanner due to their dismal batting performances. Earlier this year, both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had missed the Duleep Trophy and they are now being criticized for this. Rohit and Virat retired from T20Is this year after India won the World T20 and understandably they are ain the fag ends of their illustrious career.