Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan feels that Rahane’s past performances in overseas conditions will work in his favor
The greatest news to come out of India’s World Test Championship final squad announcement on Tuesday was Ajinkya Rahane’s return to the Test team while India will play Australia in their second World Test Championship final at The Oval in London from June 7 to 11.
The greatest news to come out of India’s World Test Championship final squad announcement on Tuesday was Ajinkya Rahane’s return to the Test team. India will play Australia in their second World Test Championship final at The Oval in London from June 7 to 11.
Rahane’s comeback after 15 months was on predictable lines following Shreyas Iyer’s back injury which prevented him from competing in the grand finale. To treat stress fractures in his lower back, Iyer underwent surgery recently in the UK.
Since the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) picked the squad for the WTC final against Australia, rumors of Rahane’s return on the back of a few standout performances for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have gained attraction. But, it isn’t just his form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that helped him earn a recall.
The Ranji Trophy remains the biggest platform for players to shine when it comes to being chosen for the Test team. Rahane did that.
The 34-year-old scored 634 runs in 11 innings for Mumbai in the most recent Ranji season at a brilliant average of 57.63. He hit two hundred in those 11 innings, including a huge knock of 204 runs. His average in the campaign was even higher than his career First Class average of 47.12.
Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan feels that Rahane’s past performances in overseas conditions will work in his favor.
Speaking on Star Sports’ Cricket Live, Irfan Pathan said:
“Had Shreyas Iyer been fit then Rahane would not have got the place in the WTC Final side. But as far as the current form is concerned, he is looking in great touch. The format in which he is playing now is completely different but Rahane’s performance on foreign pitches has always been good and this has gone in his favour.”
Former India cricketer Harbhajan Singh, however, opined that Suryakumar Yadav should have also been kept in the squad along with Rahane because SKY can accelerate his knock.
“I would have kept both Surya and Rahane in the team. I would have played Surya instead of Axar because you are not going to play with three spinners in English conditions. In such a situation, having Surya in the team would have given an additional advantage to the batting line-up,”
he said.
India’s Test squad WTC final: 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.
