WTC Final: The Indian squad for the one-off Test against Australia has been announced. However, Michael Vaughan is only partially impressed with Shubman Gill's inclusion in the team and wants him to be replaced by KL Rahul. Here's why.
Team India will have its eyes set on the grand prize of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), as it will be taking on Australia in the grand finale at The Oval in London on June 7. In the meantime, the Indian squad for the one-off Test was announced by the All-India Senior Selection Committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday.
The announced Indian squad had a surprise in the form of senior opener Ajinkya Rahane, who has been prolific in the continuing Indian Premier League (IPL) with former four-time champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK), having come off a decent domestic season. However, former English skipper and expert Michael Vaughan is not impressed with including young opener Shubman Gill and wants him to be replaced by the struggling wicketkeeper-opener KL Rahul.
Vaughan explained his suggestion and told Cricbuzz, "The only change they could make in English conditions is that KL Rahul plays the moving ball better than Shubman Gill. Shubman's a tremendous young player, but you've got to win that one game of cricket. Forget history; it's about picking the best XI to win the World Test Championship. Shubman is a dangerous player when it's straight, but I've seen some technical deficiencies. He takes his hand too much towards the ball when the ball moves."
"He [Gill] snicks off quite consistently. They wouldn't do that [bring in Rahul for Gill] because I'm not in the selection room. [However] don't pick a team based on what's next or who's going to play in the West Indies; you've got to pick the team for that one game of cricket," concluded Vaughan.
Rahul's form in the longest format lately has been least impressive, as he has been dismissed for low scores without contributing with consistent half-centuries. While he has been in average form in IPL 2023, having slammed multiple 50s, his strike rate has yet to impress all, which is the roadblock in his axe from the Test side.