The Indian squad for the final of the World Test Championship was announced on Tuesday, with Ajinkya Rahane being recalled for the all-important titular clash against Australia. Rahane had been away from the Test team since January last year, having been dropped for the side's two-Test series against Sri Lanka the next month. Since then, Rahane has been a part of the Mumbai team in Ranji Trophy and is currently representing the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, where he has produced some stunning performances at incredible strike rates.
Rahane's inclusion came following the unavailability of Shreyas Iyer; the latter was ruled out after a back injury forced him for a surgery. Rahane is highly expected to be a part of the Indian XI for the game but former England captain Michael Vaughan has made a rather surprising remark on the Indian opening order, which – for many – looked quite straightforward when it came to selection.
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Indian captain Rohit Sharma and youngster Shubman Gill have been India's first-choice opening pair following a series of inconsistent performances from KL Rahul at the top. However, Vaughan has thrown a rather interesting suggestion over the opening order debate, stating that Rahul can make a surprise entrance due to prior experience in English conditions, and his ability to play against the moving ball.
"The only change that they could make in English conditions, is that KL Rahul plays the moving ball better than Shubman Gill. Shubman's a tremendous young player, but you've got to win that one game of cricket. Forget history, it's about picking the best XI to win the World Test Championship. When it's straight, Shubman is a dangerous player but I've seen a few little technical deficiencies. When the ball moves, he takes his hand little bit too much towards the ball. He snicks off quite consistently.
{{/usCountry}}"The only change that they could make in English conditions, is that KL Rahul plays the moving ball better than Shubman Gill. Shubman's a tremendous young player, but you've got to win that one game of cricket. Forget history, it's about picking the best XI to win the World Test Championship. When it's straight, Shubman is a dangerous player but I've seen a few little technical deficiencies. When the ball moves, he takes his hand little bit too much towards the ball. He snicks off quite consistently.
{{/usCountry}}"I'm not sure they will do that (replacing Shubman with KL Rahul) because I'm not in the selection room. (But) don't pick a team on what's next, or who's going to play in the West Indies… you've got to pick (the team for) that one game of cricket,” Vaughan told Cricbuzz.
KL Rahul was part of India's first two Tests against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy before being dropped for Shubman for the remaining two.