Ajinkya Rahane: The upcoming ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final will be a great opportunity for Indian Cricket Team to win its first ICC title since 2013. They played an exceptional brand of cricket in this cycle and are just one win away from scripting history. The Final will be played between 7-11th June at The Oval, England and it’s fair to say that with the kind of squad they have if they play to their potential, they can win the title.
ICC WTC Final: “They must’ve been on holiday when…,” Ravi Shastri slams people touting Ajinkya Rahane’s selection on the basis of IPL form
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) recently announced the squad for the ICC World Test Championship Final (WTC) against Australia. The squad will be captained by Rohit Sharma whereas one surprising name in it was of Ajinkya Rahane.
The right-hander was dropped from the Indian after his poor run of form in the Tests. He last donned an Indian jersey in the game against South Africa in January 2022. And since then has been on the sidelines of the national team.
Not only this, he was also terminated from the BCCI’s annual contract recently and not many expected that he would make a comeback in the team. But he didn’t let his omission affect his game as he went back to the domestic circuit and grinded hard.
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Ajinkya Rahane scored over 600 runs in the Ranji Trophy and caught the attention of selectors especially with Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant being ruled out due to injury. The batter also has shown great form in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
He has been timing the ball really well and has shown pure class. Many feel that selectors have him into the Test squad because of his performances in the league as Sarfaraz Khan and others were more deserving.
But former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri has lashed out at these people. He said that they must’ve been sleeping when he scored over 600 runs in the domestic circuit. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, he said:
“People think Ajinkya Rahane has just played 2-3 IPL games and that’s why he’s in the WTC Final side. They must’ve been on holiday for 6 months when he was playing FC cricket and scored those 600 runs”.
With not many batters in the squad, Ajinkya Rahane will likely play the game. It’ll be a great opportunity for him to silence his critics and stake his claim back in the side.
ICC WTC Final: Indian squad for the ICC World Test Championship
Ajinkya Rahane was recalled into the team in the absence of Shreyas Iyer whereas the rest of the squad is pretty similar to what they fielded against Australia.
Here’s India’s Test squad 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.
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