More than 15 months after being unceremoniously dumped from the team following the tour of South Africa, Ajinkya Rahane, now enjoying an unlikely purple patch in the IPL, has made a return to the squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia, from June 7 at The Oval.
The four national selectors, led by interim chairman Shiv Sundar Das, met for a final round of discussion with captain Rohit Sharma on Monday. Suryakumar Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav have been dropped from the squad which last played against Australia.
Rahane was recently omitted from the BCCI’s central contracts for the current season which implied he was no longer in their plans for the long term.
Sources told The Telegraph that while his current form in the IPL did come as a boon, the team management and selectors had been toying with his name because of his experience and lack of options in the middle order.
Discussions had begun soon after the conclusion of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy once it was known that Shreyas Iyer, who is currently in the UK for shoulder surgery, would be unavailable. KL Rahul’s dodgy form also contributed to exploring the Rahane option.
The selectors also didn’t want to try out a new face in the WTC final. Suryakumar hardly impressed in the lone Test against Australia and is too inexperienced in English conditions. Rajat Patidar was also in the reckoning but is down with a heel injury.
It was learnt that both head coach Rahul Dravid and Rohit were very keen on having Rahane, who has played 82 Test matches, because of his wealth of experience. Ironically, it was the same team management which had kept out both Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara in an effort to promote young blood in the Test side.
But with regular injuries and Rishabh Pant’s accident upsetting plans, they were forced to fall back on Rahane for the WTC final. Pujara has already made a successful comeback since the one-off Test of the unfinished series in England last July.
Rahane’s record in England isn't encouraging though. In 15 Test matches, he has totalled 729 runs at an average of 26.04. His performance at The Oval is worse — 55 runs in six innings, including three ducks.
No vice-captain
With Rahul’s place not certain in the XI, the selectors have decided not to name a vice-captain. The post is considered compulsory on overseas tours, according to the BCCI constitution.
It has been decided a call will be taken by the head coach, the selector travelling to London and the captain if the need arises.
The squad for WTC final
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wicketkeeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.
