Nasser Hussain selects combined India-Australia playing XI for WTC Final; four Indian players included 

Former England captain Nasser Hussain selected his combined playing XI out of the squads from India and Australia ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final. The two teams will play for Test cricket's ultimate prize at The Oval in London from June 7 onwards.

Hussain's combined team comprises seven Australian players with the rest being from the Indian contingent. The former player opted for a left hand-right hand combination at the top in the form of the veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Usman Khawaja. The former was nominated to lead the team as well.

Explaining why the in-form Shubman Gill failed to make the cut, Hussain told ICC Review:

"Rohit Sharma, very easy, top of the order and captain for me. I love the way Rohit captains. I'd like to have Shubman (Gill) in but I think it's just a little bit early for him to break into my combined XI, so I'm going to go with Usman Khawaja to open the batting."

Much like the majority of the cricketing world, the Englishman chose a formidable middle order of Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli, and Steve Smith as the backbone of the batting unit.

Admitting that Rishabh Pant would have been his first-choice wicket-keeper had he been available for selection, Hussain said:

"Wicketkeeper is a bit hard because of the injury to Rishabh Pant. I would just have him in straight away, no questions asked, but he's not there. He's injured, unfortunately. India is still trying to work out which one they're going to play, so I'm going to go with Alex Carey as my keeper at seven."

India have two wicket-keeping options available in the form of KS Bharat and Ishan Kishan in the squad. With Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul currently out injured, the Men in Blue will have to make do with rookie options for the high-octane encounter.

Choosing to sideline Ravindra Jadeja since the contest is taking place in seamer-friendly conditions in England, Hussain commented:

"If the World Test Championship Final was in the subcontinent or India, I might go Jadeja at six. But I'm not, because it's in England. I'm going to go for a bowling all-rounder, seam-bowler in Cameron Green. That's who I want as my all-rounder."

Naming Ashwin as his lead spinner over Nathan Lyon and forging a pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Mohammed Shami, Hussain concluded:

"(Pat) Cummins at nine, easy choice. (Mitchell) Starc at 10 to give me that left-arm variation. Mohammed Shami, just so that we can have so many replays of his seam position going down."

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Nasser Hussain's combined India-Australia playing XI for WTC Final

Rohit Sharma (c), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Virat Kohli, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Mohammad Shami

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