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

Irfan Pathan said Ajinkya Rahane would not have made it to India's WTC final squad against Australia had Shreyas Iyer been fit.

Ajinkya Rahane's inclusion in India's squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final has split the cricketing world. While many fans and experts believe it is a backward step, there are others who claim that Rahane's return is not just because of his IPL form and that his experience will come in handy in English conditions against a side like Australia. The actual reasons behind Rahane's return to the Test side after 15 months will not be known as the selection committee did not give out any details.

Ajinkya Rahane has been named in India's WTC final squad (ANI )

The popular belief supported by cricketing logic, is that the selection committee, which doesn't have a full-time chairman yet after Chetan Sharma's resignation earlier this year, did not have many options once Shreyas Iyer was ruled out of the WTC final due to a back injury. Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan is also a believer in that notion.

Irfan said Rahane would not have made the cut had Iyer been fit. "Had Shreyas Iyer been fit then Rahane would not have got the place in the WTC Final side," he said on Star Sports' show Cricket Live.

Iyer has recently undergone back surgery and will take some time before he returns to action.

Irfan, however, was quick to point out that the kind of form Rahane has shown in IPL 2023 while playing for Chennai Super Kings, will help his confidence when he takes the field 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.

Rahane has stunned one and all with his attacking style of batting in this IPL. He has hit as many as 11 sixes in only five matches and has scored at a staggering rate of 199. To put things in perspective, Rahane's best-ever strike rate in one season was 137 in 2019 when he was a part of the Rajasthan Royals.

As far as his red-ball form is concerned, the veteran of 82 Tests has scored 634 runs in 7 matches in the last Ranji Trophy at an average of 57. The average might be a bit deceiving as it was his two towering knocks of 191 and 204 that powered his season apart from just one half-century.

But in the absence of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the selectors have decided to fall back on Rahane's experience. They did have Sarfaraz Khan and Suryakumar Yadav as options but both haven't played a Test match overseas and it was wise not to throw them on the deep end in a big match like a WTC final.