The last eighteen months were pretty tough for Ajinkya Rahane. He lost his spot on the Indian Team after a poor year and was finally left out after the South African Tour in early 2022. The loss of spot resulted in Ajinkya Rahane heading back to the grassroots level. He played a season of Domestic Cricket, did well, but not enough to lighten up the tournament. In his place, Shreyas Iyer, who walked into his middle-order spot looked very good against spin and was playing some intentful Cricket.

A strong start to his career put the brakes on Ajinkya Rahane’s comeback discussion as Rahane was left forgotten. He did still have a considerably good season in Ranji Trophy with more than 600 runs, and came back into the spotlight via the IPL, where Ajinkya Rahane looked high on confidence, batting with some incredible intent. While IPL performances should not warrant a spot on the Test side, Ajinkya Rahane did enough to make his Ranji performances and experience speak.

Weeks ago, the World Test Championship Final looked like a far and long-gone dream. Now, Ajinkya Rahane stands in UK waiting for the Test to begin, along with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, a trio who have carried the Test batting line-up for a decade. He is not the only one to have made an exceptional return to the Indian ranks though.

Cheteshwar Pujara too was dropped after the South Africa series in 2022 with 95 Test Capst to his name. At that stage, it looked highly unlikely for him to add to his tally as well. Pujara though got back into his groove as he went to England to play some County Cricket in 2022. During the County season he became an integral part of the Sussex line-up, scoring runs for fun as he transformed his game as well, batting with a lot more intent. With runs in England, Pujara made it back into the Indian Team and has earnt his spot back as a reliable member of the side.

With Pujara and Rahane back, India has their old warhorses together once more. The same pair was the only pair of Cricketers to last through all four Tests against Australia in the famous 2020-2021 Test series. The Duo, along with Virat Kohli have seen it all as they grew together during a two-year-long overseas touring marathon from 2013-2015, and now it is upon the trio once more to see them through the Finals as India look to end their ICC Trophy drought.

The moment coming up is pretty big. The trio though, very different in personality, will be unfazed. They have gone up against the Australians many times together and will be eager to get going against Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, continuing yet another famous battle.