“Ek match ke baad drop kyon kiya?” – Aakash Chopra raises his voice for Suryakumar Yadav’s absence from Team India squad for WTC final

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has raised his voice for Suryakumar Yadav's absence from the Team India squad for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final, which starts at the Oval in London on June 7.

The cricketer-turned-commentator was surprised to see Yadav’s exclusion despite him playing a solitary Test during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). The 45-year-old reckoned that the selectors should have given him a longer rope to decide his fate in Tests.

Taking to Twitter, Aakash Chopra wrote:

“Happy for Rahane. But how does the SKY inclusion-exclusion make sense?? Select kyon kiya…kar liya toh ek match ke baad drop kyon kiya? (Why was he selected? If they did select him, why was he dropped after just one match?)”

For the uninitiated, Suryakumar Yadav made his Test debut against Australia during the first Test in Nagpur, scoring just eight runs. His exclusion from the Test squad comes amid his lean patch with the bat. He recently registered three golden ducks in as many games during the ODI series against Australia at home.

The 32-year-old also struggled for the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the ongoing IPL 2023, scoring 123 runs in six innings at an average of 20.50, including a solitary half-century.

Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan has also been excluded from the WTC final squad despite warming the bench throughout the BGT series.

---

No Suryakumar Yadav but Ajinkya Rahane included in India squad for the WTC final

Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, has been included in the India squad for the WTC final. The development comes amid his red-hot form in IPL 2023, where he has scored 209 runs in five games at a staggering strike rate of 199. The right-handed batter also recently scored 191 versus Assam in the Ranji Trophy.

The Mumbai batter holds a decent record in England in Tests. He has so far scored 729 runs in 15 Tests, including a century and five fifties. The 34-year-old also averages 42.10 in Tests against Australia, having scored 884 runs in 12 Tests, including two tons and four half-centuries.

In the absence of the injured Rishabh Pant and Suryakumar Yadav, Rahane might be asked to play the role of an aggressor in the middle order.

India’s Test squad for WTC final: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, K L Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat.