WTC Final 2023: The 15-member Indian team has been announced for the World Test Championship final to be played against Australia from June 7 to 11 at The Oval in England. Some changes have been made to the team for this important match. Suryakumar Yadav has been dropped, while Shreyas Iyer could not make it to the team due to injury.
Ajinkya Rahane inclusion in WTC Final
The experienced batsman of the team, Ajinkya Rahane, who was once the captain, has returned to the team after almost one and a half years. Cricket fans are happy about his return. However, three players have also been included in the team who were not expected to be selected, and other talented players could have been included instead.
Lokesh Rahul is the first name among these players. He has been struggling with poor form for some time and is currently out of form in the IPL 2023 as well. Despite this, his inclusion in Team India for WTC Final 2023 is a questionable decision made by the BCCI. It should be noted that KL Rahul has scored only 50, 12, 10, 22, 23, 10, 2, 20, 17, and 1 runs in his last 10 Test innings.
Sarfaraz Khan in Place of Rahul
Sarfaraz Khan could have been given a chance in the team instead of KL Rahul. He has performed exceptionally well in domestic cricket, especially in the Ranji Trophy, in the last several seasons. Sarfaraz Khan was the top scorer in the last Ranji Trophy, scoring 982 runs at an average of 122.75. He scored 4 centuries and 2 half-centuries, and his top score was 275.
Srikar Bharat has been selected as the wicket-keeper batsman for the World Test Championship (WTC Final 2023). He did not perform anything special in the Test series played between India and Australia. Bharat could only score 101 runs in 6 innings of 4 matches in the Australia series, and his top score was 44. Therefore, his selection as a wicket-keeper batsman on a big stage like the World Test Championship final is a questionable decision.
Sanju Samson in Place of Srikar Bharat
Instead of Bharat, Sanju Samson could have been given a place in the team. He is a good batsman along with being a wicketkeeper, and his experience in international cricket is greater than that of Sanju. In recent times, his performance in international cricket has also been excellent.
The inclusion of Jaydev Unadkat name in the selected team for the World Test Championship (WTC Final 2023) is also surprising. Saurashtra has won prestigious trophies like Vijay Hazare under his captaincy in recent times, but he has not had a chance to play at the international level for a long time.
He got a chance to play a Test during the Test series against Bangladesh in 2022, after 10 years, but he was not given a place in the team during the Australia series. He has had fewer opportunities in the IPL as well, and his performance in those opportunities has also not been effective.
Arshdeep Singh had been given a chance instead of Unadkat
In the presence of Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj, hardly any other fast bowler gets a chance. It would have been better if a young bowler like Arshdeep Singh had been given a chance instead of Unadkat, who could at least sit in the dressing room of the team and test with the big players.
