KOKKATTA: Ajinkya Rahane has been recalled to India’s squad for next month’s World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia as one of 6 specialist batters in the 15-man squad.
Rahane, 34, has been in excellent Twenty20 form in the Indian Premier League, but he has not on the pitch in a test match since January of last year.
The team named Tuesday for the World Title Decider, which begins on June 7 at The Oval in London, will be led by Rohit Sharma. India was defeated by New Zealand in the first WTC final in 2022. The team led by Rohit just defeated Australia 2-1 in a four-match test series in India.
In the batting order, Rahane joins Sharma, former captain Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, and KL Rahul. Rahane played the last of his 82 tests in South Africa at Cape Town 15 months ago.
The sole specialist wicketkeeper chosen for the squad was Srikar Bharat, who participated in all four tests against Australia in February and March.
Due to back injuries, both fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and batter Shreyas Iyer were not selected.
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, Srikar Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, and Jaydev Unadkat are the players in the Indian team.
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