WTC Final: What Should be India’s Batting Order Against New Zealand

WTC Final: What Should be India’s Batting Order Against New Zealand

WTC Final: India will lock horns against New Zealand for the ICC World Test Championship Final. One question that arises is what should be India’s batting order?

The Indian batsmen have found it difficult to get going in the English conditions when compared to all-around the globe. Even Indian skipper and arguably the best batsman of the current era, Virat Kohli struggled to score runs in those conditions initially in his career before doing what he is known for in England.

Although the numbers of the top Indian batters in England are not that bad. Cheteshwar Pujara averages 29.41 in 9 tests in England, his third-lowest among the seven countries he played in. He has scored 500 runs there. Ajinkya Rahane averages 29.26 in 10 tests in England and has scored 556 runs. Captain Virat Kohli averages 36.35 and has 727 runs in 10 games.

WTC Final: India’s Batsmen For WTC Final 2021

The conditions in England are suited for the bowlers, especially for the pacers. The Duke ball swings and seams for a longer duration which means that the bowling team is never out of the game. New Zealand has a threatening pace attack of Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, and Kyle Jamieson and they’ll become even harder to deal with in conditions like that.

Openers for WTC Final 2021

Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill will be the openers for India in the WTC final. Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul are there in the squad but Rohit and Gill haven’t done anything wrong to get dropped. Rohit was India’s highest run-scorer in the recently concluded series against England. He scored 345 runs in 4 tests. Conditions were different but it shows that he’s in form.

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Shubman Gill failed to perform up to the expectations in that series but he’s still the first choice opener alongside Rohit. He is an exciting young talent and needs to be backed for fruitful results. Rohit has played only one test in England while it will be Gill’s first test match there.

Middle-Order

Cheteshwar Pujara will bat at 3. His job is to hold the batting line-up together and bat as long as he can. He is the second most important batsman for India after Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli will bat at 4. He performed well when India last toured England. He scored 172 runs against England in the recent series where he wasn’t at his best with the bat. But he is a great player and one can expect him to bounce back stronger.

Ajinkya Rahane will bat at 5 for India. He’s a very experienced campaigner and has played some great knocks in the English conditions in the past. Rishabh Pant will be next after Rahane. Pant has been in some serious form with the bat.

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He scored 270 runs in 4 tests against England recently and did well in the BGT series against Australia as well. Wriddhiman Saha is there too for the keeper’s role but pant will and should be played ahead of him.

All-Rounders

Ravindra Jadeja returns to the Test squad after injury and is currently going through a purple patch in his career. He will bat at 7 and will be very important for the Indian side. It can be a toss-up between Ravichandran Ashwin and Hanuma Vihari but Ashwin brings more value to the side and is in great form too so he should get the nod over Vihari.

Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin should be the ideal batting order for India in the WTC Final. They have performed well throughout the league stages of the tournament and should continue for the Indian side in the WTC final.

Also Read: WTC Final: India’s Predicted XI For The World Test Championship Final 2021

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