Team India announces Squad for ICC WTC Final; Ajinkya Rahane returns

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the 15-member squad for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia. Ajinkya Rahane has got a recall to the Indian Test squad after 16 months courtesy of his recent form in the domestic circuit and Indian Premier League.

Ajinkya Rahane gets a recall to the Indian Test squad after 16 months

The WTC final will be played from June 7 to 11 at the Oval in London. Team India will be missing a couple of players in the middle order due to injury issues. Shreyas Iyer has recently undergone back surgery and is expected to be out of action for a few months.

On the other hand, wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is currently recovering from the injuries he suffered in a car crash in December last year. Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant scored the majority of runs for Team India in the test format last year and in their absence, they needed a solid middle-order batter.

The BCCI have shown trust in experienced Mumbai batter Ajinkya Rahane who last played a Test for India in January 2022 in South Africa. Rahane scored over 600 runs in 11 innings, including a double century against Hyderabad and a ravishing 191 against Assam, and proved his form with the bat.

The Mumbai batter has continued his form in IPL 2023 and has amassed 209 runs in 5 innings for CSK at a staggering strike rate of 199.05. Rahane has till now played 82 tests for Team India and has scored 4931 runs while he has got most of his success on overseas tours.

KL Rahul has also found a place in the 15-member squad despite a lean run in the past few months. He was dropped from the playing XI in the last two tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy but might find a place now as a designated keeper-batter in the WTC final.

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The BCCI have not made any changes in the bowling department as Mohammad Shami and Mohammed Siraj will lead the pace attack with the likes of Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Jaydev Unadkat. The spin department consists of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel.

India’s Test squad for ICC 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.