‘Ajinkya Rahane would not have been selected for WTC final if…': Irfan Pathan expresses himself on India's squad

The inclusion of Ajinkya Rahane in India’s squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final has caused controversy among cricket fans worldwide. While a lot of experts and fans think it’s a step backward, others say Rahane’s return isn’t just due to his IPL form. They also say that his experience will be useful in English conditions against a team like Australia. The genuine purposes for Rahane’s re-visitation of the Test side following 15 months won’t be known as the choice panel gave out no subtleties.

Iyer recently had surgery on his back, and it will be some time before he can play again.

Irfan, on the other hand, was quick to point out that Rahane’s performance in the IPL 2023 for Chennai Super Kings will boost his confidence when he plays at The Oval on June 7.

“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,”

Irfan added.

In this IPL, Ajinkya Rahane’s aggressive batting style has blown everyone away

In just five matches, he has scored 199 points while making as many as 11 sixes. To place things in context, Rahane’s best-at-any point strike rate in one season was 137 out of 2019 when he was a piece of the Rajasthan Royals.

Taking everything into account, the veteran of 82 Tests has scored 634 runs in 7 matches in the last Ranji Prize at a normal of 57. Due to his two towering scores of 191 and 204, his season was powered by just one half-century, so the average might be misleading.

However, in the absence of Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, the selection committee has decided to rely on Rahane’s previous performance. They did have Sarfaraz Khan and Suryakumar Yadav as options, but they had never played in a Test match outside of India, so it wouldn’t have been wise to throw them into a big match like the WTC final.