'Happy for Rahane but...': Ex-India batter's 'select kyu kiya' tweet questions BCCI's WTC final squad

Rahane's return has created a rage on internet, but while everyone is pleasant to see Jinx return to the fold, an ex-India batter has a question for BCCI.

Surprise, surprise. 15 months after he was dropped from India's Test squad, Ajinkya Rahane is back and how? By straightaway getting drafted in India's squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia at The Oval starting June 7. Call it luck, call it fate, his exploits for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023 or as a stop-gap arrangement, the fact is that India's middle-order has been bolstered by the return of an 82-Test veteran who has the idea, knowledge and experience of playing in England. Rahane's record of 665 runs from 14 matches may not be enough meat to draft him a place in the squad, but the circumstances are such that the BCCI had to fall back on a player they demoted in their Central Contracts list given the magnitude of the final.

Welcome back, Ajinkya Rahane. (Getty)

Rahane's return has created a rage on the internet, but while everyone is extremely pleasant to see Jinx return to the fold, former India batter Aakash Chopra has raised an interesting point. Expressing joy at Rahane's comeback, Chopra questioned the BCCI for its WTC final squad, more so for leaving out Suryakumar Yadav. SKY was included in India's squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at home in February and played only one Test – the series opener in Nagpur – where he scored 8 off 20. However, leaving him out right after including him for a high-profile Test series is a mystery Chopra hasn't quite been able to wrap his head around.

For all his credentials in T20s, it's no secret that Suryakumar is far from a finished product in the other two formats, let alone in Tests. If there was any place for SKY, it was probably in the middle order but the inclusion of KS Bharat and the return of KL Rahul shut whatever little chances there was for Surya. For all we know, Rahul, who has played a decent amount of cricket in England, will keep wicket while Bharat will travel to London only as a back-up. And with injuries to Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer, the BCCI banked on the experience of Rahane than trying out the Surya gamble in the testing conditions of England.

As for Rahane, he comes back to the Test team not on the back of some intimidating form. During the previous Ranji Trophy, Rahane scored 634 runs from 7 matches at an average of 57.82 including two centuries that comprised an impressive double-century against Hyderabad. Besides, he has been in glittering form in the IPL, showing a version of his batting like never before. Rahane 2.0, who has scored 209 runs from 5 matches at a strike rate of 123.0 and has hit two blazing half-centuries has been the surprise story of IPL 2023 which proves he still has the hunger and adaptability to play at the top level.