Ishan Kishan was chosen by the BCCI selection committee on Monday to take KL Rahul's spot for the World Test Championship final against Australia later this month. Rahul suffered an injury to his upper right thigh during the current IPL 2023. Rahul, the captain of the Lucknow Super Giants, had already withdrawn from the WTC final due to an injury he sustained while playing in an IPL game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The decision to replace Rahul with an uncapped Ishan rather than the seasoned Wriddhiman Saha outraged social media, but a recent article clarified the why.
After his recent outstanding achievements in the IPL 2023, which featured his wicketkeeping as well, Saha, who last represented Team India in the Wankhede Test match in December 2021, was anticipated to be picked by the selectors for the WTC final. Fans on social media believed Saha might pull off a similar feat after selectors chose Ajinkya Rahane based on experience.
According to a report by PTI, Saha's name was never even brought up during the discussion for the second keeper's position. Nevertheless, the selection committee, led by interim chairman Shiv Sunder Das, supported Ishan for the position, which only demonstrated continuity given that he was also chosen as the backup wicketkeeper option in the Border-Gavaskar series.
“Kishan was assigned to serve as the Border Gavaskar Trophy's backup custodian. Wriddhiman Saha was not discussed, a person familiar with the situation informed PTI under the condition of anonymity.
The 39-year-old has already acknowledged that there was no chance of his joining the Indian squad again. The wicketkeeper-batter said in an interview with Sports Tak, “Don't think so I will be picked for India anymore. Coach and top selectors had already informed me. Based on my IPL performance, I may have been chosen to participate in the England trip. They made a choice that is quite apparent. I just care about playing cricket, however. I shall keep going as long as I feel okay.
There was also a commotion over India. Abhimanyu Easwaran, the captain, is absent from the stand-by list, while Mukesh Kumar, Suryakumar Yadav, and Ruturaj Gaikwad are included. Invoking Easwaran's India, fans a record to query the reasoning of his omission of the Maharashtra hitter, who is more well-known for his IPL accomplishments with CSK.
According to the PTI report, the selection committee is more concerned with how the runs are scored, against what kinds of assaults, and under what circumstances than they are with the quantity of runs scored. Easwaran faced obstacles due to his failure to sign with an IPL team or lead Bengal to a significant knockout victory in the previous two seasons.
India's team for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ishan Kishan (wk).
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Mukesh Kumar, and Suryakumar Yadav are backup players.
