WTC Final: Ajinkya Rahane In Contention As Rahul Dravid And Support Staff To Plan The Strategy For WTC Final - Reports
Published - 10 Apr 2023, 09:14 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:15 AM
Indian Cricket Team head coach Rahul Dravid along with support staff and NCA head VVS Laxman will be meeting in Bengaluru to chalk out the blueprint for the World Test Championship (WTC) Final as per the reports in PTI, which also suggested that Ajinkya Rahane is also in contention to be in the squad.
India have reached the final of the World Test Championship (WTC) after their staggering win in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last month. The Rohit Sharma-led side will now face Australia in the summit clash at The Oval, England from 7th to 11th June.
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Indian players are currently plying their trade in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, which will conclude on 28th May. It’s fair to say that they will get very less time to prepare for the WTC final. But skipper Rohit Sharma had mentioned after the BGT that players of the teams that won’t qualify for the playoffs will be sent early to the UK. He also mentioned that they will provide duke balls to the pacers and the workload of players will also be monitored during the league.
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Not only this but there also will be a few key issues related to the team combination, especially after the injuries to Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, and Jasprit Bumrah. Many reports have suggested that India will prefer KL Rahul as the keeper of the team as KS Bharat’s batting technique is not suitable in seaming and swinging conditions.
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Reports in PTI also suggested that head coach Rahul Dravid along with batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, fielding coach T Dilip and the other support staff will be meeting the NCA head, VVS Laxman. The reports read:
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“Dravid along with batting coach Vikram Rathour, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, fielding coach T Dilip and the other support staff will be meeting the NCA team headed by VVS Laxman to discuss various issues related to the senior team.”
WTC Final: Ajinkya Rahane in contention for the World Test Championship squad
The reports in PTI have also suggested that Ajinkya Rahane is in contention to be in the Indian squad for the final of the World Test Championship. The batter was kept on the sidelines after India’s Test series against South Africa last year. The right-hander was dropped from the team due to his poor form of run as he averaged just 20.25 in his last 15 Test matches with no hundreds and just three fifties.
Ajinkya Rahane recently was also terminated from the BCCI’s annual contract for the season 2022-23. But with Rishabh Pant and Shreyas Iyer likely to be out of the squad, the experience of the senior batter could be valuable for the team. He had a staggering domestic season as well, where he piled up over 600 runs.
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