Fans rejoiced as veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane made his return to the Indian squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the squad on Tuesday, handing the 34-year-old a return for the summit clash against Australia in June. It was at the start of last year that Rahane had featured in the whites for India, playing against Australia. Having done the hard work in domestic cricket and shown exemplary form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the 34-year-old impressed the selectors enough to earn a recall.
Rahane’s comeback after 15 months was on predictable lines after Shreyas Iyer‘s back injury ruled him out of the grand finale. Iyer has undergone surgery in the UK for a lower back stress fracture.
Rahane played the last of his 82 Tests in January 2022 against South Africa in Cape Town. Here’s how fans reacted to his return:
Ajinkya Rahane included in the Indian team for the WTC final.
Welcome back, Rahane. pic.twitter.com/QarI9TCXoo
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 25, 2023
I had been thinking, and chatting to people, about India’s squad for the WTC Final. And whichever way I looked at it, I was zeroing in on this team. That suggests there weren’t too many choices. The only real talking point is the return of Rahane. Looks in good form, not slogging…
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 25, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane makes his return to the India team after 17 long months.
The comeback man – Rahane! pic.twitter.com/uw9lJMj5E4
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 25, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane is back in the test squad.
Welcome Back Rahane. pic.twitter.com/DsLfxfBHZH
— ` (@rahulmsd_91) April 25, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane included in the Indian team for WTC Final 2023.
Welcome back Rahane #AjinkyaRahane #wtcfinal #WTC2023 pic.twitter.com/X4EAomVGaJ
— Ashutosh Srivastava (@sri_ashutosh08) April 25, 2023
Ajinkya Rahane included in the WTC Final squad!! We’ll Deserved King. pic.twitter.com/g8TDupE8Y0
— DIPTI MSDIAN (@Diptiranjan_7) April 25, 2023
The rest of the squad led by Rohit Sharma was on predictable lines.
KS Bharat is the only specialist wicketkeeper, while Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, who were part of the home series against Australia, were dropped from the current squad.
It also has to be noted that KL Rahul, dropped from the playing XI for the 3rd and 4th Test against Australia, retains his place in the squad despite struggling for form even in the IPL for his franchise Lucknow Super Giants.
With the WTC final set to be held in London, the selectors also included Shardul Thakur in the team for the match, owing to his famous performances away from home, especially in Australia.
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.
With PTI inputs
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