Ajinkya Rahane returns to India’s Test squad for WTC Final

Ajinkya Rahane has been added to India’s Test squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia, which will be played at the Oval from June 7, the BCCI announced on Tuesday. Rahane has returned to the Test squad after performing for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy.

Furthermore, the right-hander has been in exemplary form in the ongoing Tata IPL 2023 while playing for Chennai Super Kings. Rahane has scored 209 runs in five matches of the ongoing IPL 2023 at an average of 52.25 and a strike rate of 199.04, which is the best among the top 20 run-getters of the tournament.

Moreover, he amassed 634 runs at 57.63 including two centuries in the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai but the team could not make it to the knockout stages.

In the absence of injured Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane could bat in the middle order for the Rohit Sharma-led team in the WTC final. Rahane had played his last Test match against South Africa in early 2022 and thus was dropped from the team after mundane performances.

On the other hand, KL Rahul, who was dropped from the final two Test matches against Australia, retains his place in the team. Suryakumar Yadav, who made his debut against Australia, has been dropped from the Test team.

Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Jaydev Unadkat will constitute the pace attack in the absence of Jasprit Bumrah. Shardul Thakur also gets a place in the 15-man squad whereas India has backed their spin all-rounders such as Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel.

With KS Bharat failing to grab his chance with the bat in the Border-Gavaskar series, KL Rahul could play as a wicket-keeper in the team to further strengthen the batting unit.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat