Former cricketer Ricky Ponting has backed Team India batter Ajinkya Rahane ahead of the World Test Championship final against Australia. The final is all set to take place from June 7 to June 11 at The Oval in London. The right-handed batter is making a comeback to the Test squad for the World Test Championship final.
Ajinkya Rahane was recalled back to the Test team after Shreyas Iyer was unavailable for selection due to an injury. He last played a Test against South Africa in Cape Town in 2022. After he was dropped, he played for Mumbai in domestic cricket and had a decent Ranji Trophy season. It was followed by an astonishing Indian Premier League 2023 season, where his reinvented T20 game was on display.
“Jinks (Rahane) has had an incredible IPL as well. It’s funny isn’t it, how IPL runs can now get you picked back into a Test match squad. Jinks has been on the outer for the last couple of years in Test cricket, but everyone saw how confident he looked and how well he played in the IPL and that was enough to get him back in,” said Ricky Ponting to ICC Review.
Ajinkya Rahane has rediscovered some confidence: Ricky Ponting
Ajinkya Rahane has vast experience under his belt playing red-ball cricket for India. He has scored 4931 runs in 82 Test matches, with 12 centuries, and 25 fifties. The veteran cricketer has also led Team India in the format. He is likely to bat in the middle order in the World Test Championship final. Ricky Ponting believes if Ajinkya Rahane gets a chance, he will perform well in the match. He said,
“He has been there and done it before in Test cricket. It was probably a bigger hurdle for him to climb to get back into playing really good T20 cricket than it is for him to go back and play good Test cricket. His make-up is much more suited to the Test game than it is to T20 cricket. He has rediscovered some confidence and if he does get picked, I won’t be surprised to see him get runs in that Test match.”
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