Former Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has earned a long-awaited Test recall, named in a 15-player squad for this year’s World Test Championship final against Australia.
The BCCI unveiled its squad for the highly-anticipated contest on Tuesday, with the 34-year-old returning to India’s Test squad for the first time in 15 months.
Rahane, who led India to a famous series triumph during the 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, was dropped in January last year after registering 460 runs at 20.00 in 13 Tests, passing fifty just three times in 23 knocks.
His most recent Test century came in December 2020, scoring 112 against Australia in a Player of the Match performance at the MCG.
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Last month, the right-hander was omitted from BCCI’s central contracts despite finishing the Ranji Trophy as Mumbai’s leading run-scorer with 634 runs at 57.63, including two centuries in 11 innings.
However, a string of injuries and some blistering Indian Premier League form opened the door for a coveted Test recall, named as one of six specialist batters in the squad.
Rahane has plundered 209 runs at 52.25 in five innings for the Chennai Super Kings this season, boasting a mind-boggling strike rate of 199.04. Earlier this week, he smacked 71 (29) in a Player of the Match performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Rahane effectively replaces the injured Shreyas Iyer, who recently underwent back surgery, and T20 powerhouse Suryakumar Yadav, who has been dropped after making his Test debut against Australia during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Indian paceman Jasprit Bumrah wasn’t available for selection as he continues recovering from a back injury, while talented wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant is still on the mend after his horrific car accident.
The World Test Championship final between Australia and India gets underway at The Oval on June 7, ten days after the IPL final. Australia will announce a 15-player squad for the match on May 28.
India’s World Test Championship final squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
