LONDON (Reuters) – India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to field in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval on Wednesday.
India picked a lone spinner in all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, while KS Bharat retained his place as the wicketkeeper ahead of Ishan Kishan.
“It is tough to leave Ashwin out,” Rohit said.
“He has been a match-winner for us, it is not a great occasion to leave him out, but you have got to do what is best for the team in the given conditions.”
The beaten 2021 finalists have brought back veteran Ajinkya Rahane to bolster their batting lineup against Australia who are playing their first WTC final.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said he too would have preferred to bowl first on a wicket that promised considerable bounce.
Scott Boland replaced injured fast bowler Josh Hazlewood in the Australia squad.
“It (pitch) looks like it’s got a little bit of grass. I’m sure he’ll be a weapon,” Cummins said of Boland’s inclusion.
Teams:
India – Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia – David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins (captain), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Christian Radnedge)
