Ponting predicts Australia's WTC final playing XI; Labuschagne at top, no place for Konstas

New Delhi [India], May 30 (ANI): Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting picked his Baggy Greens playing XI for their upcoming World Test Championship final fixture against South Africa at the iconic Lord's, scheduled to kick off on June 11.
Australia, which announced a star-studded 15-player squad earlier this month, is coming into the WTC final hot on the heels of an imposing 3-1 triumph over India in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Even though Australia's squad appears to be settled, there are still underlying questions that they need to address when selecting their playing XI. With runs dried up from Marnus Labuschagne's bat and Cameron Green's return to prolific form,
Ponting weighed in on Australia's potential lineup and believes Labuschagne will be pushed up in the batting order alongside Usman Khawaja, leaving no room for young Sam Konstas. Green will follow the top-order and then Steve Smith at number four, while Travis Head, Beau Webster and Alex Carey will comprise the middle order.
"I have just got a bit of a feeling that Marnus Labuschagne might be pushed up the order to open the batting with Khawaja. I think Green will bat at three, and Steve Smith will be at four. Then it's Travis Head five, Beau Webster six, Carey at seven, Cummins eight, Starc nine and Lyon 10," Ponting said in the ICC Review.
While skipper Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc straightaway slot into Ponting's XI, he believes Australia will be in a conundrum regarding the selection of Josh Hazlewood and Scott Boland. For Ponting, the last spot will come down to Hazlewood's fitness. If the 34-year-old Hazlewood is fit, he will return to the team.
"And the one that everyone talks about the last couple of years is the whole Hazlewood (versus) Boland one. It's a really tough selection every time because every time Boland plays, he just does so well. But unfortunately, if Hazlewood is fit, I think Hazlewood comes straight back into the team," he added.
Ponting elaborated that the biggest dilemma for the selectors will be Labuschagne. The 30-year-old has lost his mojo and is in a hunt for his rich vein of form. Since the end of 2022, Labuschagne boasts just a solitary century and hasn't made much of an impression in two matches for County Championship side Glamorgan.
Despite the speculations, the ICC Hall of Famer believes Australia will stick with Labuschange, citing the route the selectors took with David Warner in the last WTC final and said, "I actually think that that will go with Labuschagne. Looking back to the last World Test Championship Final there was some talk about David Warner and whether he should hold his spot going into that."
"And there was a bit of talk around the team about wanting to get through that period or that phase or, if you like, with the same group of players and give them the chance to, to be able to play off in that one-off final. Labuschagne has been through this cycle with the team, albeit batting at No.3, and I think they will want to get through the cycle with the same players, so I think Labuschagne will get the nod. Whether I agree with it or not, it's a different thing...all will be revealed in the next couple of weeks," he added.
Ricky Ponting's predicted Australia XI for the World Test Championship Final: Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood. (ANI)