Veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane finally made his return to the Indian Test team after 17 months as Indian Cricket Board announced the 15-men squad for the Test Championship final against Australia from June 7th to 11th at The Oval in London.
Rahane last played for India in January 2022 in a series against South Africa. He was dropped from the Test squad due to his poor form and continuous failures. After that, he had a great outing in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy, where he amassed 634 runs in seven games playing for Mumbai at an average of 57.63.
After that, he was picked by Chennai Super Kings for the ongoing season of IPL for INR 50 lakhs in the 2023 auction. The 34-year-old has had a great season with the bat so far as he has scored 209 runs from the five matches with an average of 52.25 and a blistering strike rate of 199.05, including two half-centuries.
Coming back to the squad, Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian team in the big final against the Aussies. Meanwhile, KS Bharat will be coming as a wicketkeeper batter, despite poor form in the last home Test series against the Aussies. Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, and Cheteshwar Pujara will take charge of the Indian batting lineup, while KL Rahul also made it into the squad, despite getting dropped from the last two Test lasts in the previous series. Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ravichandran Ashwin are the three spinners who will be going to England.
Shardul Thakur is back in the Test squad
Mohammed Shami and Mohammed Siraj would be spearheaded in the fast bowling department, along with Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat, while Shardul Thakur also made his return for India in whites. Thakur is the kind of player who can take wickets at an important time and can also come as a handy batter who could score crucial runs.
Notably, both India and Australia qualified for the Test Championship final after the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, which India ended up winning by 2-1. India will be playing their second consecutive Test Championship final after they lost to New Zealand in the previous edition. Now, Rohit Sharma and his men will be looking to get through the line in their second attempt and clinch the Test mace.
India squad for Test Championship final:
Rohit (C), Gill, Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, KL, Bharat (WK), Ashwin, Jadeja, Axar, Thakur, Shami, Siraj, Umesh and Unadkat.
Dear selectors we need to meet pic.twitter.com/GCq4GiPIhp
— Yashh (@Y_On_Earthh) April 25, 2023
Rohit rahane kohli gill pujara enough to showcase some good total on board but need klr or Bharat to perform well to steal the cup with ease pic.twitter.com/i4AB9664xy
— jetha hi?ler ? (@sterns_haschen) April 25, 2023
King is back? pic.twitter.com/hmTj1LOhdO
— SANKET (@oye_protein) April 25, 2023
Everyone to Kele Rahul pic.twitter.com/Libe5MslQD
— Prabhat Sharma ?? (@Prashaforever) April 25, 2023
Rahane is back is great news
He is in form now. …1st in Ranji now IPL
However he needs time to prepare for WTC final but that wont happen as CSK is likely to reach playoffs
Rest of team as expected
— amitava (@amitava0112) April 25, 2023
Kuch to baat hai is Jersey main. pic.twitter.com/WdTqtUwMBb
— Prayag (@theprayagtiwari) April 25, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane back in WTC Final squad on basis of T20s performance.
A very poor decision?
#IndvAus #AjinkyaRahane #wtcfinal #GTvMI pic.twitter.com/WvnLf2UEgu— Royals Cricket ?? (@ImHimanshu_Raj) April 25, 2023
BCCI included Ajinkya Rahane for WTC Final 2023. Welcome back Rahane?#WTC23 #wtcfinal #AjinkyaRahane pic.twitter.com/huzLGDKH9q
— Ashutosh Srivastava ?? (@sri_ashutosh08) April 25, 2023
But you got to feel happy. He's such a team player and you'll always find Rahane when the team needs him the most. Hope he has a long second stint in him. #WTC23 #WTCFinal #AUSvIND
— Ansh Agarwal (@anshagrawal343) April 25, 2023
