MS Dhoni was consulted before including Ajinkya Rahane in India’s WTC Final squad (Sportzpics)
As per reports, BCCI consulted MS Dhoni before including Ajinkya Rahane in India’s squad for WTC final, while the likes of Ishan Kishan and Sarfaraz Khan could be among the reserves
MS Dhoni remains a key figure in Indian cricket, even after his retirement from international cricket. The former Indian skipper was the mentor of the Indian team which took part in the T20 World Cup in 2021 and as per a recent report, the Chennai Super Kings captain was consulted by the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) before they named Ajinkya Rahane in India’s squad for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final in June.
Rohit Sharma’s men are set to square off against Australia at the Oval in London from June 7 to 11. Rahane, who had recently lost his central contract with BCCI a couple of months ago earned a recall back into the Test squad after inputs from MS Dhoni claims a report in the Times of India.
The renaissance of Ajinkya Rahane under Dhoni’s captaincy has been one of the fairytale stories of IPL 2023 campaign. Many had wondered how Rahane – who was dropped from India’s Test squad for the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023 – would fare in CSK’s lineup but he has thrived in his role.
The 34-year-old has scored 209 runs in five innings for the Yellow Army, including an unbeaten 71-run knock against Kolkata Knight Riders. In all of his innings, Rahane has scored in double digits barring just one match, which highlights that he is well and truly back to his best.
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The same report also adds that Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan, Jharkhand’s Ishan Kishan, Bengal’s Mukesh Kumar, Maharashtra’s Ruturaj Gaikwad and Delhi’s Navdeep Saini are among the reserves who could be in the fray for the WTC final in case of an injury or if a replacement is needed for the travelling party.
The report also adds that the Indian team could play a multi-day warmup match before the WTC final against England, including those players who will not feature in the IPL 2023 playoffs that are set to begin on May 23. Those players whose franchises do not qualify for the IPL playoffs are likely to depart for the UK early.
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India’s squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat .
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