Ajinkya Rahane Named In India's Squad For World Test Championship Final vs Australia, Suryakumar Yadav Left Out
Ajinkya Rahane named in India's squad for World Test Championship final vs Australia while Suryakumar Yadav has been left out.
- NDTV Sports Desk
- Updated: April 25, 2023 11:28 am IST
Ajinkya Rahane makes his Team India return for the World Test Championship final against Australia. Suryakumar Yadav, on the other hand, has not been included. Rahane, a veteran of 82 Test matches, last played for India in the longest format of the game in January last year. Since then, he was not considered for selection owing to poor form. However, having done well in domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the 34-year-old made his way back.
From the Indian squad that featured against Australia in the 3rd and 4th Test, Suryakumar Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ishan Kishan are the notable absentees while Shreyas Iyer couldn't be a part of the team owing to an injury. Along with Rahane, all-rounder Shardul Thakur has also been included in the squad for the WTC final.
With Iyer out injured, the selection committee decided to hand the veteran Rahane a recall. The experienced batter had become the talk of the town in the Indian cricketing spectrum because of his superlative show with the bat in the IPL for CSK. In the season so far, Rahane has aggregated a whopping 209 runs at an average of 52.25. These runs have come at an exceptional strike-rate of 199.04. He sits third in the list of top-scorers in the league at present.
India squad for WTC final against Australia: 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.
The summit clash between India and Australia will be held from June 07 to June 11 at the Oval in London. In the recent 4-match Border-Gavaskar Test series between the two sides, Rohit Sharma's men had secured a 2-1 triumph. However, away from home, things are expected to be trickier for the team.