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The start of the World Test Championship Final 2021-23 saw some surprises as the Men in Blue missed the likes of all-rounder Ravichandra Ashwin and wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan in the Playing XI. As soon as India won the toss and opted to bowl first, the all-format skipper was questioned on questioned on the team’s playing XI.
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Host Nasser Hussain asked Rohit Sharma on how difficult the call was to leave out World No. 1 bowler R Ashwin, a top-class player who boasts of 869 points and sits at the top of the ICC Test Rankings. The 36-year-old admitted that it was a difficult decision for the team to leave Ashwin.
“It’s always tough. He’s been a match-winner for us, over the course of many years. So, leaving him out was tough. But you got to do the things that are needed for the team. So, eventually we came up with that decision,” Rohit said at the toss.
Team India’s Playing XI:
Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma (c), Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.
Bench: Ishan Kishan, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat