Sunil Gavaskar, a legendary batsman, applauded the selection committee’s decision to include Ajinkya Rahane back to the Test team for the World Test Championship match against Australia in June. Gavaskar emphasised that selection of Ajinkya Rahane was based on more than only his outstanding performance in the IPL 2023; it was also based on his domestic performance and the expertise he brings to the middle order.
India’s 15-man selection for the WTC final, which will be held at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11, includes Ajinkya Rahane. Rahane was benched during India’s cricket tour of SA (South Africa) in Jan 2022 and had not returned, but the injuries to Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer may have had an impact on his decision to rejoin the team.
In seven games as Mumbai’s captain, Ajinkya Rahane scored 634 runs in the Ranji Trophy, which include a double hundred and a hundred. Ajinkya put his head down, played domestic cricket once again, and carried over his strong performance from the IPL. Rahane, who is recreating his T20 game in company of CSK (Chennai Super Kings) in the IPL 2023, has scored 209 runs in 5 games with a strike rate of almost 200.
In Shreyas Iyer’s absence, Sunil Gavaskar argued that the decision to choose Ajinkya Rahane was a wise one. The former captain of India discussed the dilemma with the XI’s wicketkeeper as well as his ideal starting lineup.
KL Rahul, who was benched from the starting XI during the 4-Test series against Australia owing to poor form, has been kept in the side. KS Bharat, who had a respectable debut series in Border-Gavaskar Trophy, has been chosen as the designated wicketkeeper in the team.
There have been requests to deploy Rahul as wicketkeeper to give the middle order more stability even though Bharat would offer a specialised alternative.
