Dinesh Karthik, a veteran wicketkeeper-batsman for the Indian cricket team, believes that Axar Patel may not be included in India’s playing XI in the World Test Championship final against Australia at the London Oval.
India secured its place in the end of the world trade center for the second successive season after defeating Australia 2–1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in which Axar played a prominent role with the bat.
Despite scoring 264 runs in four matches and being the third-highest run-scorer in the series, he did not perform as well with the ball as spin-mates Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who claimed 25 and 22 wickets respectively, while Axar managed just three wickets.
Dinesh Karthik chooses between Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur
In a Cricbuzz discussion, Dinesh Karthik expressed his belief that pacer Shardul Thakur should be preferable to bowling all-rounder Axar Patel in India’s WTC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. He also pointed out that if Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja become available for selection, Axar may not make the playing XI.
“If Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja are fit, Axar Patel will have to miss out. I think Shardul Thakur will take his place. If I have to be very honest, India made a mistake last time by playing both spinners, and they didn’t bowl as much. It’s a unique game and you can’t see it in the bigger scheme of things.
“You have to go into the game saying my best XI to win that game. If that means leaving out Jadeja and Ashwin, then so be it.”
Despite his preference for Shardul Thakur over Axar Patel, Dinesh Karthik also proposed the idea of India playing with only one spinner in the WTC final against Australia, given the conditions in England that are more conducive to seam bowling. He suggested that Rohit Sharma and the team management should take this into account.
Despite their fine performances in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, where they took 25 and 22 wickets respectively, Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja may need to be left out of the playing XI for the 2023 WTC final.
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