WTC final: 3 players who can replace KL Rahul in India's squad

India’s preparations for the World Test Championship 2023 final have got a hit as star batter KL Rahul got injured while fielding during IPL 2023 match 43 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants. Rahul got injured while fielding during the game and will be going undergoing scans to know the extent of the injury. 

According to reports, the 31-year-old will not be featuring in the remainder of the IPL 2023 and BCCI will only take a call once the results of the scans are out.

Rahul will be a big miss for India in the summit clash as he was the third-highest run-scorer for the team in the last Test series in England with 315 runs to his name. It will be a herculean task for the selectors to replace Rahul if he doesn’t get fit in time. On that note, let’s take a look at three probable replacements for KL Rahul for the WTC final:

1. Mayank Agarwal

Agarwal last played a Test for India in March 2022 versus Sri Lanka and wasn’t picked in the squad for the next three series against England, Bangladesh and Australia. The Karnataka batter recently finished as the highest run-scorer of the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 with 990 runs to his name across 13 innings at an average of 82.50 scoring three hundreds and six fifties. 

Agarwal has the experience of 21 Tests and can be a good fit for India in the middle or top order in Rahul’s absence. The 32-year-old has the much-needed experience of facing the Australian trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc as he made his debut in Australia in 2018 and scored two 70+ scores in two games. Hence, the batter knows how to counter the formidable pace unit and his experience will come in handy in the big game.