Published: Apr 25, 2023, 11:32 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 25, 2023, 11:32 AM (IST)
New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday announced India’s 15-member squad for ICC World Test Championship final that will take place at the Oval from June 7 to 11 against Australia.
Rohit Sharma will lead the side and former Indian Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is back in the squad for the one-off match that holds great importance. But there was no place for world’s No. 1 T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav in the side.
Surya made his Test debut for India in February against Australia in Nagpur but failed to do much. He didn’t get the chance to play in the remaining three matches and his recent form in international cricket and IPL has led to his omission from the squad.
There was also no place for Shreyas Iyer in the team and Ishan Kishan was also dropped from the squad that featured against Australia in the 2023 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But KL Rahul has retained his place and is likely to be the deputy wicketkeeper for KS Bharat.
Ajinkya Rahane’s last Test appearance for India was against South Africa in January 2022 and then he was dropped from the home series against Sri Lanka. He didn’t played in the one-off Test against England in July last year and was also left out of two-match series agianst Bangladesh in December last year. Rahane scored runs in Ranji Trophy for Mumbai but was not considered for 2023 BGT. But due to injuries to Shreyas Iyer and poor of Suryakumar Yadav, Rahane got a chance to make a comeback. His good form in the ongoing season of IPL for Chennai Super Kings has pushed the case for his selection.
In the batting, apart from Rohit, India will have the services of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahane, Shubman Gill. Rahul and Bharat will be two wicketkeepers.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are three spinners, whereas the pace attack will be led by Mohammed Shami who will also have Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat for support.
Kuldeep Yadav who was part of India’s team against Australia in 2023 BGT is also left out. He didn’t get a game in Border-Gavaskar Trophy as well.
Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (WK), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
