India vs Australia Predicted XI, World Cup Final: Will Team India pick R Ashwin?

All sorts of media reports are out, claiming that the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for the 2023 Cricket World Cup final is going to be ‘sluggish’ and ‘slow’. In fact, Australia captain Pat Cummins confirmed that the pitch for the World Cup final against India will be the same that was used during the India-Paksitan game.

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In that match, Pakistan were bowled out for 191 batting first before India won the match by seven wickets in 30.3 overs. On that day the pitch wasn’t at its best for batting.

Apart from Cummins, there’s no official confirmation that it will be a used pitch for the final, but one mustn’t forget that a used surface was picked for India’s semi-final against New Zealand in Mumbai and both teams ended up scoring over 300 runs with India almost touching the 400-run mark.

Ahmedabad pitch may not have the same sort of pace and carry but it may not also prove to be a completely slow turner. In fact, one of the Gujarat State Association curators had said that over 300 is possible when batting first.

“If a heavy roller is being used on a black soil strip then the idea is to create a slow batting track where you can get a big score but you possibly can’t consistently hit through the line. 315 could be a defendable score as batting second will be difficult,” the curator said.

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Now the question is what should India do?

Australia only have one specialist spinner in Adam Zampa but India have Ravichandran Ashwin on the bench who hasn’t played since the opener against Australia in Chennai. He played in Chennai as the pitch was a pure turner, but after a nine-game gap where India won all the games, will it be wise to bring him back into the playing XI?

The best person to answer thsi is captain Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid but there’s no reason for India to unnecessarily tinker with the playing XI, especially when they are on a 10-game winning streak and the current formula of three pacers, one spinner and one spin-bowling all-rounder had served them so well.

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Even without Ashwin, India have two spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja. Jasprit Bumah, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohammed Shami are the first-choice pacers.

If Ashwin has to come in, Siraj’s place is the only spot. But that call would largely depend on the nature of the pitch for the final.

If it’s not a rank-turner, we don’t see Team India management making any changes to their playing XI.

India predicted XI for World Cup final: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammad Shami

Australia predicted XI for World Cup final: David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Glenn Maxwell, Josh Inglis (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Adam Zampa