With no Pant or Iyer, BCCI brings back Ajinkya Rahane in middle order for WTC Final; Check complete squad
After two years of blockbuster cricket, we are on to the final two teams for the World Test Championship. India will lock horns with Australia in the WTC final 2023 from June 7 to June 11 at the Kennington Oval, London.
Cricket Australia (CA) earlier announced the squad, and now the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has also announced a 15-member Indian squad for the WTC final in England. There are some notable changes in the team, while some have been left out.
After a brilliant performance in the ongoing Indian Premier League, Ajinkya Rahane has made his comeback into the Indian Test side after a gap of 15 months. He played the last test for India in January 2022 when India visiter South Africa for three tests.
Rahane's performance with the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2023 is one of the prime reasons for him making his comeback into the Indian Test side. One another major reason for his comeback is that India will miss the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant in the middle order.
Both Indian stars are out due to fitness and accident issues. Iyer underwent a back surgery and will be out of action for a while. On the other hand, Pant, who suffered a car accident is on his recovery process. KL Rahul is also part of the team after missing out on the last two tests against Australia in the BGT series.
🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia squad for ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final announced.
— BCCI (@BCCI) April 25, 2023
Details 🔽 #WTC23 https://t.co/sz7F5ByfiU pic.twitter.com/KIcH530rOL
Rahul is likely to do the keeping duties and play in the middle order, and KS Bharat might have to sit out. In the swinging conditions in England, the Indian Board has shown trust in the experience of Rahane and Rahul for the middle order. The spin all-rounder trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel are part of the team but all three might now play in the seaming conditions.
Indian squad WTC final: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul (Wk), KS Bharat (Wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Jaydev Unadkat.