‘Ajinkya Rahane's selection for WTC final proves Ranji Trophy has zero value': BCCI blasted for ‘short-sighted move'
Ajinkya Rahane's makes a return to the national side after a long wait of 15 months.
The BCCI on Tuesday announced a 15-member squad for the much-anticipated World Test Championship (WTC), which will be played in June at The Oval. While the core remains mostly the same, the management decided to bring in Ajinkya Rahane into the mix.
Rahane's makes a return to the national side after a long wait of 15 months, during which he was engaged with Mumbai rendering his services in the domestic circuit. The Mumbai skipper had a good outing in the 2022-23 Ranji Trophy, where he accumulated 634 runs from 11 innings at a healthy average of 57.63.
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While this was his show in red-ball, Rahane also stamped his authority in white-ball cricket. After being roped in by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for ₹50 lakh, Rahane made maximum use of the opportunity, which many feel helped him earn a spot in India's WTC squad.
Batting at a staggering strike-rate of 199.04, Rahane has so far amassed 209 runs from five innings and has been one of CSK's mainstay in the middle-order.
Despite the imperious form, Rahane's selection left many puzzled, who slammed BCCI for placing IPL over Ranji Trophy for selection criteria. In fact few even argued Sarfaraz Khan, who has been a hit in the India's premier red-ball domestic tournament, should have got a chance ahead of his Mumbai colleague. Here are a few reactions:
While Sarfaraz has certainly failed to get going in the ongoing edition of IPL, but he has been a tremendous force for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy. The middle-order batter accumulated 556 runs from 9 innings at an average of 92.66.
However, it is Sarfaraz's vulnerablity against quality seam attack, which may have forced BCCI think-tank to incline towards Rahane, who also has the experience of representing India in 82 Tests.
Meanwhile, there were also quite a few voices, who were hopeful of a powerful show from Rahane. Here are a few tweets:
India had reached the final of the inaugural edition of WTC in June 2021 but lost by eight wickets to New Zealand in a rain-hit contest in Southampton. However, the team will aim for an improved show this time around and look to finally end the ICC Trophy drought.
