The Board of Control for Cricket in India has announced its test squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at the Oval in June. Middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane has been re-inducted into the team. Former Team India vice-captain Rahane played the last of his 82 tests in January 2022 but has been in impressive form in the ongoing Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament. With Shreyas Iyer sidelined due to a back injury, India opted for Rahane, who averages 49.44 in tests with 12 centuries to his name.
KS Bharat has retained his place behind the stumps with first-choice wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant continuing his recovery from a car crash in December. The test squad includes six specialist batters and three spin all-rounders – Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel. Apart from these, the Rohit Sharma-led side features Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav and Jaydev Unadkat.