‘Welcome back, KING!’ – Twitter erupts in delight as Ajinkya Rahane makes his way into India’s WTC final squad
Rahane last donned the whites for India in January 2022.
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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, April 25, announced the 15-member squad that will travel to England for the forthcoming World Test Championship (WTC) Final. Notably, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and veteran India batter Ajinkya Rahane has been included in the squad owing to his blazing form in the ongoing IPL 2023 and his red-ball form that he displayed in the recent Ranji Trophy season.
For the uninitiated, Rahane has redefined his batting approach as displayed in the top-tier league for the CSK franchise. In his five outings thus far, the 34-year-old batter has carved out blazing knocks and amassed scores of 61, 31, 37, 9, 71*, with a run tally of 209 at a stunning strike rate of 199.05.
In his most recent outing against Kolkata Knight Riders, the Mumbai-born batter clobbered as many as five maximums and six fours to score an unconquered 71 off mere 29 balls at a strike rate of 244.82. With a massive change in his batting approach while coming in the middle-order, Rahane has taken the IPL by storm and is in contention for the IPL 2023 Orange Cap this season.
Not just the fans and members of the cricketing fraternity, but also the All-India Senior Selection Committee has taken heed of his impressive form and hence have drafted him into the India squad.
Rahane last donned the whites for India in January 2022, during the third Test against South Africa, played at Newlands in Cape Town. Across both the innings, the batter could only manage to score nine and one, respectively.
Rahane was confined to the sidelines owing to his poor form after the same but his recent batting exploits seemed to have worked the trick. Moreover, with Shreyas Iyer out due to a back injury, the BCCI has backed Rahane to feature in the squad for the ICC event.
Following the conclusion of the IPL 2023, team India will play fierce rivals, Australia, at The Oval in London in a one-off Test starting June 7 for the coveted mace.
Twitter buzzes as Ajinkya Rahane makes a return to the Test squad:
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