BCCI announces India's squad for ICC World Test Championship final against Australia

Ajinkya Rahane makes a comeback in the India's squad for ICC World Test Championship final against Australia.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia, set to take place against Australia at The Oval from June 7th-11th. Ajinkya Rahane has returned to the squad after some stellar IPL 2023 performances for the Chennai Super Kings.

Rahane has been in blistering form in IPL 2023, scoring at a brisk rate. The right-handed batter has amassed 209 runs in five matches at 52.25 alongside a strike rate of 209.04. He secured the Player of the Match award for his 29-ball 71 against the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday at the Eden Gardens. After his 61 against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium, the veteran said he was hopeful of a Test veteran.

Rahane is likely to slot in the eleven for Shreyas Iyer, who underwent a back surgery and will miss the marquee fixture at The Oval. The rest of the squad is the same that played the four-Test series against Australia at home, with Rohit Sharma to lead. Cheteshwar Pujara is currently warming up for the WTC final through County Cricket stint with Sussex. The Saurashtra batter scored 115 and 35 against Durham, followed by 15 and 13 against Yorkshire.

It will be India's second WTC final, having lost the previous one to New Zealand in Southampton. The Men in Blue conceded a lead of 32 after the Kiwis bowled them out for 217 in the first innings. Lead by Tim Southee's four-wicket haul in the second innings, New Zealand skittled Virat Kohli and co. for 170. Despite losing two early wickets, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor made half-centuries to script a comfortable eight-wicket win for their side. Nevertheless, the defending champions were out of contention quite early this time.

India's squad for ICC World Test Championship against Australia:

Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.