The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has already announced the squad for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2021-23) final where the Rohit Sharma-led team will lock horns against Australia at The Oval in London from June 7-11.
Australia finished on top of the leaderboard of the ICC WTC 2021-23 points standings and India earned the second spot after defeating the Baggy Greens at home in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by 2-1.
After losing out to New Zealand in the inaugural WTC, India will hope to clinch silverware in their second attempt, which will be the first ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy under MS Dhoni.
However, India won't be fielding a full-strength side for the marquee clash with many of the regulars injured and a few more doubtful.
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Which Indian players are injured for the WTC 2023?
Jasprit Bumrah wasn't considered for selection as he is recovering from his back injury and is rehabbing at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.
Rishabh Pant was also ruled out after the maverick wicketkeeper batsman was injured in a car crash in December 2022. He is currently recuperating and will definitely not feature in the World Test Championship final.
Shreyas Iyer has also not been included as he recently underwent back surgery in England and is also at the NCA undergoing rehab.
KL Rahul sustained a thigh injury while fielding against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL recently and is believed to be ruled out of IPL 2023 with his WTC participation also in doubt.
Jaydev Unadkat was unfortunate to trip in the nets and landed hard on his shoulder. However, scans have shown that he has not dislocated his shoulder but has been seriously injured which has put question marks over his participation as well.
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What did BCCI say about KL Rahul's participation in ICC WTC 2023?
"KL is currently with the team in Lucknow but he is leaving the camp on Thursday after watching the game against CSK on Wednesday. His scans will be done in Mumbai at the BCCI-designated medical facility. His case as well as Jaydev's case will be handled by BCCI," a senior BCCI source privy to development told PTI.
"When someone sustains an injury like this, there is a considerable amount of pain and swelling that is there in and around the area. The swelling takes around 24 to 48 hours to heal and only after that can you perform the scan.
"Since he is an important member of the Test team, it would only be prudent that he doesn't take any further part in IPL. Once the scans ascertain the degree of injury, the BCCI medical team will decide the course of action," said the source.
What did BCCI say about Jaydev Unadkat's participation in ICC WTC 2023?
"Yes, it's a good thing that Jaydev doesn't have a dislocation but the shoulder isn't in great shape and he can't play IPL any more as far as this season is concerned. Also, we can't say if he will get fit in time for WTC final," the same source stated.
India squad for WTC 2023 final
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, KS Bharat (wk), R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat
