IND vs AUS: India announce squad for WTC final; Ajinkya Rahane makes sensational return

BCCI has announced Team India's squad for the World Test Championship Final. The 15-member squad which has been announced sees the return of former Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane. India will take on Australia in the WTC final from June 7 at the Oval in UK.

The team that will challenge Australia for the coveted Test Maze has been announced. Names of 15 members have come forth. Rohit Sharma is the captain and Ajinkya Rahane gets a re-entry into the team after being dropped from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The player has been impressive till now with the bat in the IPL 2023. Rishabh Pant's name is not there on the team sheet. Notably, no vice-captain has been selected for the one-off match set to take place at the Oval, UK.

BCCI announces 15-member squad for WTC final

India squad: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammad Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat. 

🚨 NEWS 🚨#TeamIndia squad for ICC World Test Championship 2023 Final announced.

Details 🔽 #WTC23 https://t.co/sz7F5ByfiU pic.twitter.com/KIcH530rOL

— BCCI (@BCCI)

Other than Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer have also missed out. Moreover, Hardik Pandya's name is also not featured in the potential history-making squad. After the culmination of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, several experts indulged in a discussion and on social media as well rounds were made regarding the possibility of Hardik Pandya's intake, while the player ruled himself out from the selection, the ultimate development corroborates with what Pandya stated. 

Australia's squad for WTC Final

Australia had already announced the WTC final squad a week ago. While BCCI has announced a 15-member player list, Cricket Australia came up with 16. Pat Cummins will be leading the Aussie side, and Steve Smith will be working as his deputy.  David Warner, who incurred an injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and Josh Hazlewood, who also was ruled out from the India tour, are in the squad. Moreover, Mitchell Marsh also features in the 16-player force. Here's what the Australia squad looks like.

Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner  

So, with both squads have been named, the battle of the odds is set to start. What do you think, who will emerge as the WTC champion?