Sunil Gavaskar shares his opinion on having Ajinkya Rahane in the 2023 World Cup Squad

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Published at :May 4, 2023 at 3:37 AM

Modified at :May 4, 2023 at 3:37 AM

Ajinkya Rahane made his comeback in India's test squad recently.

Ajinkya Rahane, who has earned his spot back in the Indian Test team for the WTC final slated to take place from June 7 against Australia at the Oval, is making a comeback to the national setup after a gap of more than one year. The 34-year-old former captain of the team was recently named in the 15-member squad for the WTC Final.

The elegant stroke player, Rahane has been in sublime form in the ongoing edition of IPL 2023 and was also impressive in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 season. Playing for CSK, Rahane has played some brilliant match-winning knocks for his team. In the eight matches played so far, he has accumulated 224 runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of almost 190. He also boasts of a hefty average of 44.80.

Not to take away any credit from Rahane, his comeback to the national side is partially because of the unavailability of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant who have been the front runners for the spot in the Indian Test team.

Sunil Gavaskar wants to see Ruturaj Gaikwad or Yashasvi Jaiswal instead of Ajinkya Rahane in the 2023 World Cup Squad

On being asked whether Ajinkya Rahane should be included for his experience in the 2023 World Cup Squad or not, Gavaskar backed a youngster like Ruturaj Gaikwad or Yashasvi Jaiswal instead of Rahane to grab a middle-order spot if available.

"Good idea but no not at the moment. Rahane in a Test match yes, but white-ball somebody else, some youngster who is doing well. like Gaikwad or Yashasvi. There is no place at top but they can get a place in the middle," Gavaskar has told Star Sports.

On the contrary, former India pacer S Sreesanth said he won't be surprised to see Rahane's named in India's World Cup squad as well. "I will not be surprised," said Sreesanth. Rahane last played an ODI match for India in February 2018.

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Vikhyat Jain

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