Team India Makes Key Changes Ahead of the WTC Final, 3 Players Dropped
Ajinkya Rahane and Shardul Thakur return as India face Australia in the Final.
The Indian Men’s Cricket Team is gearing up to face the mighty Aussies in the World Test Championship Final with the intention to get their hands on an elusive ICC trophy that has been missing since the 2013 Champions Trophy. The BCCI has made some key new changes to the squad that was announced back in April after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
There were no surprises here as Ajinkya Rahane makes his return to red-ball cricket after his last Test in 2022. Rahane had an excellent season in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 634 runs in 7 matches with an average of 57.63. He kept his consistency in the IPL too, making 326 runs in 11 innings at a staggering strike rate of 172.49.
Along with Rahane, Shardul Thakur also made his return after being unavailable for the Border-Gavaskar series due to his wedding commitments. The explosive opener, Ishan Kishan who was initially dropped out of the WTC final also made a return as KL Rahul’s injury automatically meant he had to be a part of the team.
Kuldeep Yadav and Suryakumar Yadav were automatically left out as the squad for the WTC comprises only 15 players as opposed to the 17-player squad in the previous series.
While Suryakumar Yadav was included as a reserve player, Kuldeep Yadav could not make the cut as the team already includes the like of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Axar Patel as spinners. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul, both had to pull out due to a back and hamstring injury, respectively.
