Ajinkya Rahane Makes Comeback as BCCI Announces India’s Squad for WTC Final

Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane has made a comeback in the Indian Test squad as the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the final squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia which will be played at The Oval in London from June 7 to 11.

The veteran Indian batter has showcased sensational form for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. He has featured for CSK five times and scored 209 runs with a strike rate of 199.05.

The side also sees the return of KL Rahul after he was dropped from the last two Tests of the Australia series. On the other hand, KS Bharat and Jaydev Unadkar have been included in the squad after featuring in recent Test matches for India. At the same time, Bharat has replaced Rishabh Pant who continues to recover after suffering an injury in a car accident.

Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav, who were part of the home series against Australia, were dropped.

There is no designated vice captain for the WTC final, though it is expected that Cheteshwar Pujara, who was Sharma’s deputy in the last two Test matches against Australia at home, would be asked to do the job again.

India Squad: 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.

On the other hand, Australia has already announced its squad for the WTC final. David Warner has been included in Australia's 17-player touring party for the ICC World Test Championship final against India at The Oval and the opening two Ashes Tests.

Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc and David Warner.

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