Fans slam BCCI for picking Ajinkya Rahane ahead of Sarfaraz Khan for WTC final - Ranji Trophy has zero value'

India squad for WTC Final: The fans on Tuesday slammed the BCCI selectors for picking former India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane ahead of Sarfaraz Khan for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia which will be played from June 7 at The Oval in London.

Sarfaraz started trending on Twitter as soon as the 15-member squad led by Rohit Sharma was announced. The fans slammed BCCI for picking Rahane on the basis of his IPL 2023 form, alleging that the domestic competitions have lost their value in the country.

Notably, Sarfaraz was the leading run-scorer in Ranji Trophy 2021-22 season, scoring 982 runs in six matches at an average of 122.75. In the 2022-23 season, the Mumbai batter scored 556 runs at an average of 92.66. He was the side's third-highest run-scorer after captain Rahane (634) and Prithvi Shaw (595).

Rahane has been in sublime form in the IPL 2023 even since he slammed a 19-ball fifty on his Chennai Super Kings (CSK) debut against Mumbai Indians (MI). So far, he has scored 209 runs at an average of 52.25 and a strike rate of 199.04 in five matches.

Rahane has vast experience in the red-ball format which can be of great help for India in the summit clash. Also, the English conditions are not new for Rahane who last played 21 out of his 82 matches there.

In the absence of injured Shreyas Iyer, a technically sound Rahane, who last played a Test match in January 2022, was always one of the favourites to be picked in the squad. However, a few fans have not approved of the selection.

Rahane being selected over Sarfaraz for Tests just cos he’s playing well in IPL shows that Ranji trophy and every other domestic competition has zero value in the eyes of selectors. If you want to play for Team India - the only platform that matters is IPL.

— Bundesliga Fan Account (@riz_zaffy) April 25, 2023

With injuries to first choice players like Pant and Iyer, SKY experiment failing, the backup for KL Rahul is Rahane.

I wanted Sarfaraz to debut in BGT. But WTC final is different ball-game

Very easy to point fingers at selections, without trying to understand the injury woes.

— Anuj Nitin Prabhu (@APTalksCricket) April 25, 2023

Ajinkya Rahane gets a spot in Tests because of IPL form. Sarfaraz Khan misses out on it because of IPL form.

Wouldn't be surprised if Sarfaraz stops playing Ranji & starts playing full fledged IPL to make a statement for Indian team. I'm sure then he will surely get selected.

— Sameer Allana (@HitmanCricket) April 25, 2023

The reason they have had to go back to Rahane is because they didn't try out someone like Sarfaraz who should have been in the squad from the Bangladesh Test series. Them dropping SKY after 1 inns in Test sums up their fickleness. You don't trust Sarfu, and you don't trust the https://t.co/EQyw9uOwrj

— Gurkirat Singh Gill (@gurkiratsgill) April 25, 2023

Rahane probably shouldn't have been included in the WTC Final squad.

But it's funny that BCCI fans think Sarfaraz Khan is a better option than him in England against Cummins, Starc, and Hazlewood 🤣

— ; (@AIH183no) April 25, 2023

What would’ve been the odds of Sarfaraz Khan being picked for the #WTCFinals had he performed well in the IPL? Well, I don’t understand this obsession with going back. Both KL and Rahane should not be playing tests. Get young guys in the team. As simple as that #CricketTwitter

— Ramachandra.M| ರಾಮಚಂದ್ರ.ಎಮ್ (@nanuramu) April 25, 2023

Yashasvi jaiswal after scoring tons of runs isn't their, sarfaraz created a record at ranji isn't included but the man who himself the captain of Mumbai in ranji didn't get through to the semis in ranji,just playing two knocks that too in t20is going to selected...WOW

— क्षत्रिय युवराज सिंह (@YuvrajS05924093) April 25, 2023

Sarfaraz crying in the corner after scoring truckloads of runs in Ranji which has no meaning infront a T20 tournament

— Sohail (@sohailb19) April 25, 2023