WTC final: Ajinkya Rahane makes India comeback due to his stunning show at IPL
Tuesday, 25 April 2023 (12:31 IST)
Mumbai: Ajinkya Rahane's IPL form has earned him a recall in the Test team for the forthcoming World Test Championship final against Australia.
BCCI's All India Senior Selection Committee on Tuesday announced the squad for the WTC final. Rohit Sharma will lead a 15-man squad.
The WTC final will be played from June 7 to 11 at the Oval in London.
Rahane last featured for Team India in a Test match against South Africa at Newlands last January. Since then, he has been ignored for selection to the national team due to poor form.
Rahane has been in red-hot form for Chennai Super Kings in the ongoing Indian Premier League, and might have impressed the selectors to include him in the WTC final against Australia.
It also goes without saying that the selectors would have also considered his contribution in the historic series Down Under where he captained the side for Test series win in the absence of big guns Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
In this year's IPL season, Rahane has scored 209 runs at an average of 52.25 and a strike-rate of 199.04.
All-rounder Shardul Thakur has also been picked in the 15-man squad. Left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat has retained his place, which has Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan, who was part of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, has been dropped. Shubman Gill is expected to open the innings along with captain Rohit Sharma while KL Rahul has also been named in the squad.
KS Bharat has been named as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman despite his ordinary showing in the 4-Test series against Australia at home in February-March.
Earlier in the month, Australia also announced their squad for the World Test Championship final, bringing back the likes of Mitchell Marsh and retaining struggling David Warner.
India’s Test squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
Australia's Test squad for WTC final: Pat Cummins (captain), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vice-captain), Mitchell Starc, David Warner. (UNI)
