BCCI announces India’s squad for WTC final: Rahane returns after 15 months

With the BCCI announcing a 15-man Indian team for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia to be contested at The Oval in England starting on June 7, this year, Ajinkya Rahane returned to the Indian side after an outstanding IPL 2023 campaign. KL Rahul returns to the team after being benched for the final two Tests of the Australia series.

After 15 months, Rahane has rejoined the Indian team. In January 2022, he made his final appearance in the South Africa Test series. Rahane’s performance for CSK in the IPL, even though it was in a completely different format, is said to be the main driver of his comeback. The unavailability of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant and middle-order batsman Shreyas Iyer is the other significant factor.

BREAKING: India name their squad for the World Test Championship Final.#WTC23 | Details 👇

— ICC (@ICC) April 25, 2023

Iyer just underwent back surgery, and it is anticipated that he will be out for a while. In contrast, Pant has begun his gradual rehabilitation process since being involved in a vehicle accident in December of last year.

🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia squad for ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final announced.

Details 🔽 #WTC23 https://t.co/sz7F5ByfiU pic.twitter.com/KIcH530rOL

— BCCI (@BCCI) April 25, 2023

Along with Rahane, veteran pro KL Rahul made the 15-man roster despite losing his vice-captaincy and spot in the team for the last two Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests against Australia. Rahul and Rahane’s expertise has been relied upon by the team management in English conditions, where it is anticipated that the ball would swing.

Other players and Playing squad of India for the WTC Final have also been revealed.

India’s Test squad WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.