Aakash Chopra questions the selectors after Ajinkya Rahane’s inclusion in the WTC Final squad

There has been so much talk about the selection of Ajinkya Rahane in the Indian squad for the Final of the World Test Championship. There were mixed reactions regarding his return to the test side. 

Rahane's comeback has sparked outrage online, but while everyone is thrilled to have Jinx back, Aakash Chopra, a former India batter, has brought up an intriguing issue. Chopra questioned the BCCI's WTC final squad, particularly for leaving Suryakumar Yadav out. SKY was a member of India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy squad and only participated in one Test, the series opener in Nagpur, where he scored 8 out of 20. Chopra, though, hasn't exactly been able to figure out why they left him out after including him for a well-known Test series.

Akash Chopra tweeted

"Happy for Rahane. But how does the SKY inclusion-exclusion make sense? Select kyu kiya... kar liya toh ek match ke baad drop kyu kiya? (Why did you select him and if you did, why drop him after one match)," tweeted Chopra.

Despite his success in T20s, it is well known that Suryakumar lacks the finishing touches in the other two forms, let alone in Test cricket. The middle order was perhaps the only position where SKY had a chance, but the addition of KS Bharat and the comeback of KL Rahul eliminated Surya's slim possibilities. 

For all we know, Bharat will merely be going to London as a backup while Rahul, who has played a fair amount of cricket in England, would keep wicket. Due to the injuries suffered by Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, the BCCI decided against taking the Surya chance in England and instead relied on Rahane's expertise.

Rahane, on the other hand, doesn't return to the Test team with any particularly impressive stats. Rahane amassed an outstanding double-century against Hyderabad during the previous Ranji Trophy, scoring 634 runs from 7 matches at an average of 57.82, including two centuries. Additionally, he has been in sparkling form during the IPL, displaying a side of his batting that has never been seen before. The surprising star of IPL 2023 has been Rahane 2.0, who has amassed 209 runs from 5 games at a strike rate of 123.0 and smashed two thunderous half-centuries, demonstrating that he still has the drive and versatility to compete at the highest level.

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