Rahane returns to Indian team for WTC final, Suryakumar and Kuldeep out
Former captain Ajinkya Rahane, who has added a dash of aggression to his batting, has made a comeback in the Indian team for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia to be held at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11. The Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) announced a 15-member squad for this match on Tuesday. Attacking batsman Suryakumar Yadav, spinner Kuldeep Yadav and wicket-keeper batsman Ishan Kishan, who were part of the team for the home series against Australia, have not been selected in the team for this match.
Apart from BCCI’s five-member selection committee and secretary Jay Shah, captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid attended a meeting on Monday evening to finalize the squad. With Shreyas Iyer ruled out due to a back injury, Rahane was sure to return to the team after 15 months. Iyer recently got his operation done in Britain. PTI had reported on April 10 that Rahane could be back in the team. This batsman has played 82 Test matches so far. He played his last Test match in January 2022 against South Africa in Cape Town.
The 34-year-old batsman led Mumbai in the domestic season, scoring nearly 700 runs. He has added a dash of aggression to his batting which he has been flaunting for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. So far in the current IPL season, he has scored runs at a strike rate of 190 in seven matches. No one has been appointed as the vice-captain in the Rohit Sharma-led side but Cheteshwar Pujara, who played the role in the last two games against Australia, could be asked to take up the responsibility again. Pujara is currently playing county cricket for Sussex.
KS Bharath is the only specialist wicketkeeper in the squad while youngsters Kishan, Kuldeep and Suryakumar could not find a place in the team. With only one match being played, the selectors did not choose a second wicket-keeper. There is also a possibility that the team management may keep KL Rahul in the middle order and assign him the responsibility of wicketkeeper so that an additional batsman in the form of Rahane can be kept in the playing XI. The team has four all-rounders in the form of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel and Shardul Thakur.
The spinners get help later in the oval and in such a situation two spinners can be kept in the playing XI. Three fast bowlers can be kept in the team in the form of Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur. Indian squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Akshar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
