SHUBI ARUN explores the takeaways from India's squad announcement for the World Test Championship final against Australia next month
This week, India announced their 15-man squad for the World Test Championship Final against Australia that will be played at Lord's on June 7. This is India's second appearance in the marquee fixture, having lost to New Zealand in the inaugural WTC final in 2021.
Here are four talking points from the squad that India have selected to put an end to their ICC trophy drought.
Ajinkya Rahane's inclusion has been a head-turner. Picked in place of the injured Shreyas Iyer, the 34-year-old returns to the Test fold after more than a year in the cold.
While many considered the Test in Cape Town in January last year as the full-stop to his India career, Rahane saw it as a comma. Amol Muzumdar, Mumbai's coach in the Ranji Trophy, recently narrated an anecdote to attest to this.
A Q&A session had been organised with Rahane for the benefit of the youngsters in the Mumbai team and as a way of introduction, Muzumdar had begun by talking about the 82 Tests he'd played before being cut off by Rahane, who said: 'Amol, it's still not over. 82 and more to come.'
That mentality imbued his performances for Mumbai; he racked up 634 runs in 11 innings, with two hundreds and an average of 57.63. To add to this, his recent eye-catching performances for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL have pushed him back into the national consciousness. And more importantly, the selectors' too.
Is picking Rahane a regressive step? Probably. But given the dearth of options, falling back on a player with nearly 5,000 Test runs isn't the worst option in the world.
Rahane has forced himself back into the Test reckoning with his recent form (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP via Getty Images)
The drop-off from Rishabh Pant to KS Bharat was evident in the recent Border-Gavaskar series. Across the four Tests, he averaged a little above 20, with a best of 44. While expecting him to create the type of impact Pant does with the bat is unfair, Bharat didn't inspire confidence behind the stumps either.
But Ishan Kishan's exclusion means that KL Rahul is the only backup keeper to KS Bharat in the squad. And it's this side-gig that bolsters Rahul's chances of making it into the XI.
The last time Rahul played at Lord's, he scored a magnificent 129 to guide India to a statement win over England. The knock felt significant; you sensed that Rahul had finally broken into the elite batters' club. Well, his stay there has been fleeting. In the nine Tests since, he's averaged 23 and has managed just one century. Shubman Gill took his spot in the last two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar series.
Rahul would be an upgrade on Bharat in the middle order, but it is a risk given that he's never kept wicket in a Test before. Ultimately, the decision will be based on which of the two is more likely to give you a 7/10 performance.
Get your Lord jokes in now. While he wasn't picked for the Border-Gavaskar series at home, his inclusion for the WTC Final shouldn't come as a surprise; seven of his eight Tests have come outside of India.
Away from the subcontinent, India have shown a preference for playing four seamers and Thakur will be expected to fill a Jasprit Bumrah-shaped hole. His prowess with the bat allows India to play six specialist batters too.
This leaves space for only one spinner in the line-up, and while Ravinchandran Ashwin was player of the series against Australia, it's unlikely he'll feature in the final. In English conditions, Ravindra Jadeja has been the preferred spin option. Ashwin has played just six of the last 15 Tests India has played there.
The last time India played both Ashwin and Jadeja in England was the WTC final in 2021.
Will KS Bharat keep the gloves? (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
In the fourth Test of the Border-Gavaskar series, Virat Kohli ended the existential crisis he'd put billions of Indians into. His first Test century in three years came as a moment of catharsis, as much for him as for the rest of the country.
Never mind that it came against a depleted Australian attack on a flat deck, the 186 in Ahmedabad drew a line in the sand. His form for Bangalore in the ongoing IPL season is further evidence of that.
The WTC final will help answer the question everyone in the cricketing world is currently asking – is Virat Kohli back?
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