WTC Final: India, Australia Players Wear Black Armbands To Pay Respect To Victims Of Odisha Train Accident
London: India have won the toss and opted to bowl in the WTC final against Australia. India made a big move and opted to go in with an extra pacer, Shardul Thakur in place of R Ashwin. Meanwhile, players from both teams wore black armbands to pay their respect to the people who lost their lives in the tragic train accident in Odisha. Almost 300 people lost their lives as three trains collided in one of the most deadly train accidents in India’s history.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl in the crucial game. Along with Ashwin, Sharma also dropped Ishan Kishan and opted to go in with specialist keeper KS Bharat. The team also welcomed Ajinkya Rahane back into the Test team. Rahane was dropped from the team following a lean patch but a stellar show in IPL helped him get his place back. With Ashwin not playing, India only have Ravindra Jadeja as a spinner, but given the overcast conditions, fast bowlers will have to play the main role.
“We are going to bowl. Just the conditions and also the weather being overcast. I don’t think the pitch will change too much. You have to play good cricket and come out on top. Four seamers and one spinner. The spinner is Jadeja. It’s always tough (to leave Ashwin), he’s been a match-winner for us over the course of so many years. But you got to do the things that’s needed for the team and eventually we came up with that decision. He (Rahane) brings a lot of experience, he’s played 80-odd Test matches and he’s done well for the team. He’s been out for a while but but I don’t think the experience that he has can change all of that,”
Australia (Playing 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 (Playing 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