WTC final: Umesh Yadav among five pacers in India’s 15 as Shardul Thakur misses out
New Delhi, Jun 15: India’s opening combination for the WTC final against New Zealand has possibly been finalised, with Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma the only regular opening batters in the final 15, named on Tuesday evening. Hanuma Vihari, who India have often turned to for batting insurance on overseas tours, has made the cut, but there is no place for Mayank Agarwal or KL Rahul.
Both Rishabh Pant and Wriddhiman Saha have made the squad as the wicketkeeping options. Saha last played in India’s series opener against Australia in Adelaide in December, and has since become No. 2 to Pant in India’s first-choice Test XI.Meanwhile, the five pace options are Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav, the last being preferred over Shardul Thakur. Only two spin options in R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, with Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, who performed exceedingly well on the tours of Australia and in the home series against England respectively, part of the reserves.
