'Well deserved King!': Ajinkya Rahane returns to India's Test squad, SKY dropped

In a massive boost to Team India Ajinkya Rahane made a comeback in the Playing XI on Tuesday for the World Test Championship WTC final against Australia as the BCCI announced a 15man squad for the oneoff contest The WTC final will be played in London at the Oval from June 7 to 11Aggressive batter Suryakumar Yadav spinner Kuldeep Yadav and young stumperbatter Ishan Kishan who were all part of the home series against Australia failed to find a place in the teams starting XI BCCIs fiveman selection panel Secretary Jay Shah along with skipper Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid met on Monday evening to decide on the squadRahanes comeback after 15 months was on predictable lines following Shreyas Iyers back injury that ruled him out of the grand finale Iyer recently underwent surgery in the UK to treat stress fractures in his lower backRahane last played a Test in January 2022 against South Africa in Cape Town His selection has more to do with carrying enough experienced batters in the lineup as Indian teams have had their share of struggles in SENA countries during oneoff encountersAlso Read Rahul Dravid coaching staff to start WTC final prep at Bangalorersquos NCAThe 34yearold who led Mumbai during the entire domestic season scored nearly 700 runs but what stood out was how he has improved his attacking game in the IPL and is looking more purposeful than ever before with a strikerate of 190 in seven games so farThe rest of the squad was on predictable lines However there is no designated vicecaptain for the WTC final although it is expected that Chesteshwar Pujara who was Sharmas deputy in the last two Test matches against Australia at home would be asked to take charge Pujara is currently leading Sussex in the English County Championship NEWS TeamIndia squad for ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final announcedDetails WTC23 httpstcosz7F5ByfiU pictwittercomKIcH530rOLmdash BCCI BCCI April 25 2023Since it is a oneoff game the selectors may not have found it logical to have a second keeper on the side There is every chance that team management might try struggling KL Rahul not only as a middle order but also as a keeper and Rahane could play as an extra batterThere are at least four bowling allrounders in the squad including Ravindra Jadeja Ravichandran Ashwin Axar Patel and Shardul Thakur With the Oval usually assisting spinners during later stages of the game a second slow bowler could come in handyBatting deep will be the Indian teams mantra and thats been the basis of selection for the oneoff game Jadeja in overseas conditions is nowadays more of a batting allrounder and Axar is also transforming more into a specialist middleorder batterAlso Read All eyes on batting unit as India seek spot in WTC finalMohammed Shami Mohammed Siraj along with Shardul Thakur will be in contention for the first three seam bowling slots The only man who as of now might not be in contention to be selected in the playing XI is Jaydev Unadkat the fifth seamer He could help the batters prepare for Mitchell Starcs left arm angle although it will be difficult for the Saurashtra veteran to match the New South Wales mans paceIndias full squad at WTC finalRohit Sharma captain Shubman Gill Cheteshwar Pujara Virat Kohli Ajinkya Rahane K L Rahul KS Bharat wk Ravichandran Ashwin Ravindra Jadeja Axar Patel Shardul Thakur Mohammed Shami Mohammed Siraj Umesh Yadav and Jaydev UnadkatWith PTI inputs