London, June 7 (UNI) Captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first against Australia in the final of the World Test Championship at The Oval here on Wednesday.
India have gone with four seamers, and Ravindra Jadeja as their lone spinner, leaving out spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.
Ajinkya Rahane has been included in the Playing XI as he makes his comeback into the national side after a gap of two years.
"He brings a lot of experience, he has played 80-odd Test matches and has done well for the team. He has been out for a while, but I don't think the experience that he has can change all of that," Rohit said.
On Ashwin's omission, he said, "It's always tough to leave Ravichandran Ashwin, he's been a match-winner for us over the course of so many years. But you got to do the things that's needed for the team and eventually we came up with that decision."
Rohit said he chose to bowl first due to overcast and weather conditions, and added that the pitch would not change too much. "You have to play good cricket and come out on top," he said.
Australia Captain Pat Cummins said he expects the pitch to spin a bit on Day 4 and 5. "We would have bowled as well, I don't think it makes too much of a difference. Hopefully day four and five, there's a bit of spin," he said.
He also said Scott Boland would be a key weapon as this wicket has a bit of grass. "You think it suits his (Boland) bowling, he is in the same spot all day long. This wicket has a bit of grass, he will be a key weapon. We have been here for about 10 days. Pretty fresh, the weather has been nice, we haven't missed a session, feeling good," he said.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Srikar Bharat(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
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