Less than a week before the start of the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in Southampton, the Indian team thinktank is caught in two minds — whether to play four fast bowlers or include two spinners in the final XI.

It is almost a given that Virat Kohli’s men will go in with five bowlers in conditions that are expected to help the seamers during this time of the year. While Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are automatic picks, there’s going to be a keen tussle between Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur for the fourth pacer’s slot.

Sources told The Telegraph that the team management does prefer Siraj over Thakur but the Mumbai pacer’s credentials in slightly overcast conditions cannot be ignored, especially considering that Bhuvneshwar Kumar is not part of the squad. Similarly, Siraj can create awkward angles for the batsmen with his express pace.

“The balance is slightly tilted in favour of Siraj but his inclusion will mean Ravindra Jadeja will have to miss out,” someone in the know of things told The Telegraph.

The WTC final, which begins next Friday, is being touted as a battle between the pace attack of both the teams and a big challenge for the batsmen.

Ideally Kohli would have liked to play both Ashwin and Jadeja since that would have given the side better balance batting-wise. But including four pacers seems to be more suited to the prevailing chilly conditions in Southampton. New Zealand are also expected to go in with four fast bowlers.

When it comes to picking the spinners, Ashwin is the obvious choice given the presence of five left-handers in the New Zealand XI and his success rate against them — 207 of Ashwin’s 409 Test wickets have been south paws.

As for the batsmen, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane pick themselves but who will be the second opener remains to be seen. There will also be Risbhabh Pant to fall back on as wicketkeeper-batsman.

Young Shubman Gill has shown a lot of promise but he hasn’t been in prime form in recent times. Mayank Agarwal has emerged as a strong candidate to partner Rohit because of his experience and the enormity of the occasion.