Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane wait to go out to bat on Day 3 of the ICC WTC Final between India and New Zealand at The Hampshire Bowl on June 20, 2021 in Southampton, England.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were missing from former India batter Ajinkya Rahane's all-time India Test XI, which features only players he has played alongside in international or domestic cricket.Rahane, 38, named
MS Dhoni
as captain and wicketkeeper, explaining that the former India skipper was his first captain in international cricket. He picked Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan as openers, followed by
Rahul Dravid
at No. 3 and
Sachin Tendulkar
at No.
4.Rahane selected himself at No. 5, with Dhoni batting at No. 6. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were his all-round and spin-bowling options, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma made up the pace attack. The three fast bowlers were part of the Indian team that ushered in a pace-focused era in 2018 and helped secure several memorable Test wins overseas.
Kohli and Rohit, two of India's leading batters in recent years, did not make the cut.Rahane retired from all forms of cricket in July this year. The right-handed batter announced his decision through an emotional video on social media.He was dropped from India's Test team after the two-match away series against the West Indies in 2023. Rahane scored eight runs in his final innings in international cricket.
He finished his Test career with 5,077 runs from 85 matches at an average of 38.46. He also played 90 ODIs and 20 T20Is, scoring 2,962 and 375 runs, respectively.
Rahane’s all-time India Test XI of teammates: Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (C and WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma.