KL Rahul and Axar Patel's omission from India's 15-member squad for WTC final upsets Twitterati

Team India has announced their further-trimmed 15-member squad for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, which will be played in Southampton starting Friday.

KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, and Washington Sundar are among the most prominent names to have missed the final 15 for the one-off Test.

One of the most versatile batters in the cricket world, KL Rahul’s omission has upset several fans. Even Axar Patel’s exclusion from the squad has surprised fans.

In the absence of Ravindra Jadeja, the all-rounder made a remarkable start to his Test career in the recent India-England series.

🗒️ #TeamIndia announce their 15-member squad for the #WTC21 Final 💪 👇 pic.twitter.com/ts9fK3j89t

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 15, 2021

Several fans took to Twitter to express their disappointment at the exclusion of KL Rahul and Axar Patel. Here are some of their reactions:

I feel bad for #MayankAgarwal, he was the highest run scorer in the tournament with two double tons until his place got robbed after one bad series and we all knew that #KLRahul won't get a chance anyhow. I wish bcci would have sent them for SL tour 😔💔 pic.twitter.com/XTeT2toxWz

— Hammid Saaho (@saaho_hammid) June 15, 2021

Where is Axar Patel? He did a great job against England and still didn't get place in indian squad! .. weird

— Dheeraj Brela (@DheerajKBrela) June 15, 2021

Axar patel deserved a place in the squad

— Shubham Bajaj (@shubhamxbajaj) June 15, 2021

Where is Axar Patel? https://t.co/7hqouX6HC7

— Abhishek (@ImAbhishek7_) June 15, 2021

Axar Patel for Umesh Yadav. Better fielder & also in case of concussion you need a like for like for jadeja/Ashwin. Playing 11 was obvious. https://t.co/MBb8R4lS7d

— Pradhyoth (@Pradhyoth1) June 15, 2021

Would have been selected kl Rahul instead of Saha

— Satish Kumar Nagubandi (@kumar_nagubandi) June 15, 2021

Not happy with the squad.. Kl Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are more better then Shubman Gill.

— Ananya Ved (@AnanyaVed1) June 15, 2021

WHERE IS #KLRAHUL ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????😢😢😢😢😢

— DASU DS (@Dasuds143) June 15, 2021

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Why KL Rahul, Axar Patel, and co. will miss the Sri Lanka tour

KL Rahul, Axar Patel, and the other Indian cricketers who were part of the 23-member Test squad and didn’t make it to the final 15 won’t feature in the limited-overs series in Sri Lanka. The extended squad has been picked for the entire tour of England, which will end in September.

KL Rahul was India’s opener in their previous tour of England in 2018. Debuting at the MCG in December 2014, he was thought of as a long-term prospect in Tests before losing his place owing to a string of low scores.

One of India’s key players in the white-ball setup, KL Rahul, hasn’t played a Test in almost two years. He has played 36 Tests for India, scoring 2,006 runs at an average of 34.58.

Meanwhile, Axar Patel made his Test debut in the second Chennai Test against England in February.

Receiving a Player of the Match award on his debut, the all-rounder outshone Ravichandran Ashwin and ended up bagging 27 wickets in three Tests at an average of 10.59.