The BCCI on Tuesday announced a 15-member squad for the much-anticipated World Test Championship (WTC), which will be played in June at The Oval. While the core remains mostly the same, the management decided to bring in Ajinkya Rahane into the mix.

Even Rahane would have found it hard to believe if someone had told him during the Ranji Trophy season that he would feature in India's WTC final squad, more so after he was demoted in the BCCI Central Contracts. He led Mumbai and scored a couple of big hundreds - one of them against a relatively weak Assam bowling attack. His double century against Hyderabad, however, was a classy knock but with scores of 2, 51, 42, 11, 44, 14, 35, 24, and 16 in the other matches, he did not exactly set the first-class season on fire like a Mayank Agarwal.

The answer is not IPL. It is a combination of Rahane's experience and injuries to first-choice cricketers.

Rishabh Pant was never going to be fit for the WTC final, it was clear a long time ago. Pant's void as a batter can be filled in Indian conditions by all-rounders like R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel but when the Indian team walks out to play the WTC final against Australia at The Oval in overcast conditions, the attacking left-hander's absence would have pinched harder than ever. Pant's replacement, KS Bharat, did little in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to exert confidence of playing as a keeper-batter in English conditions. The solution? KL Rahul's return to the Test squad not as an opener but perhaps as the keeper-batter.

Does this mean Rahane is assured of a place at No. 5 at the Oval, come June 7? Not really. He will be competing against K.L. Rahul, who has been selected in multiple capacities. While Rahul has toured England since 2018, Rahane’s record at the Oval certainly goes against him.

In the absence of injured Shreyas Iyer, a technically sound Rahane, who last played a Test match in January 2022, was always one of the favourites to be picked in the squad. However, a few fans have not approved of the selection.

Rohit Sharma will lead the Indian cricket team in the final, which will be played at The Oval from June 7 to 11. Unfortunately, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, who were part of India's squad for the series against Australia, have missed out on a place in the 15-member squad.

Rahane's return to the Test fold drew viral reactions from Netizens, many of whom were banking on his return owing to his recent form.

Tags :World Test Championship 2023World Test ChampionshipAjinkya Rahane