Legendary Sunil Gavaskar has picked India’s playing XI for the World Cup 2023 opening match against Australia. Gavaskar feels India could pick three fast bowlers in their final XI. India recently won the first two ODIs against Australia convincingly and they will be looking to replicate the same.
The hosts won the first game by five wickets whereas the Men in Blue won the second ODI by 99 runs (DLS method). Gavaskar picked three pacers – Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, and Jasprit Bumrah as the fast bowlers in the playing XI.
“You may pick three fast bowlers – Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah. If they want to go with two seamers since they already have Hardik Pandya, then an extra spinner can be included. You can have Ashwin in the eleven,” said Gavaskar while talking to Star Sports.
“In any team, the top three batters are quite important. A good start from the openers helps the others that follow to play freely. The contribution from the opening pair is going to be crucial,” he added.
Sunil Gavaskar’s Team India playing XI vs Australia:
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah.
On the other hand, former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan wants India to go with five bowlers in the opening clash against the Aussies.