After the conclusion of the third test between India and England, there has been a lot of criticism raining upon the Indian batting lineup. The England side defeated the visitors by an innings and 76 runs. It was after a long gap of 3 years that the Indian side suffered an innings defeat. The apparently strong batting line-up of the Indian side was bundled out for just 78 runs in the first innings of the third test. While the embarrassing loss has saddened the millions of Indian fans, the cricket pundits are putting forward their analysis of the 3rd test.
Michael Vaughan takes a dig at Ajinkya Rahane
Known for his controversial (or rather toxic) tweets for the Indian Cricket team, Michael Vaughan made a controversial statement on the Indian vice-captain. The cricket spokesperson, while talking to Cricbuzz had his say on the place of Ajinkya Rahane in the Indian Team. He stated that Ajinkya Rahane is an issue for the Indian team and changes are required now. Rahane still receiving backing from the team management is shocking for him, Vaughan said.
“Rahane is an issue. And I think when see you these things happening, you have to make changes. England made changes, they got rid of Crawley and Sibley. I think India need to make changes. England needs to see a different face or two at the (Kennington) Oval,” Vaughan said.
Adding to it he said that a player should play in the team owing to his recent performance and not the past records. Rahane’s inconsistency doesn’t make him a deserving candidate for the 4th test according to Vaughan.
“I mean Rahane, is he being backed because of his vice-captaincy? Is he being backed because he played some outstanding innings in the last few years? but consistency-wise, he just doesn’t seem to find it”
Rahane’s recent form
There’s no doubt in the fact that Rahane has been quite inconsistent with his performance. Taking out the 61-run knock in the second test, Rahane has only 34 runs in 4 innings. It’ll hence be interesting to see whether the team management continues to keep faith in Rahane or goes with Surya Kumar Yadav in the 4th test.
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The 4th test between India and England gets underway from the 2nd of September in Kennington Oval, London.