It is not an unknown fact that India’s test vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane, is going through a bad phase. Since 2020, Ajinkya Rahane has been on an unimpressive and lean patch. Regardless, he has always been backed by the team management.
Thus, when India’s first home test against Black Caps saw test-skipper Virat Kohli rest himself after a hectic IPL and T20 World Cup season, it only made sense to appoint his deputy as the skipper. However, the game saw Rahane disappoint his fans and team management for the umpteenth time. Rahane’s two outings with the bat resulted in 34 and 5 runs respectively.
“No harm if Rahane is dropped for a game”- Dinesh Karthik
To be honest, it’s about time that indian cricket management takes the big call on Ajinkya Rahane’s career. Or atleast for his part in second test against New Zealand. While Rahane has batted 29 times 2020 onwards, just twice has he managed to score fifty or more. He has been severely out of runs.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ wicket-keeper and vice-captain, Dinesh Karthik, recently appeared on Cricbuzz to discuss the 1st test and here’s what he opined on Rahane’s case.
“With Shreyas Iyer coming in and doing so well… I think the pressure will obviously be on Rahane and he might be the one to be dropped. This(dropping) has already happened during a tour of SA when Rahane was dropped for a game before he came back. There is no harm if Rahane is dropped for a game.”
On the other hand, Shreyas Iyer has shown a flare of class in his debut match itself. While Shreyas scored a hundred and a fifty each in his very first match, Rahane has no hundred since Border-Gavaskar Trophy. It only makes sense to retain Iyer and drop Rahane as Virat Kohli comes back to lead the squad for Wankhede test.
Nonetheless, Mr.Rahane isn’t the only one suffering from lack of runs. Fellow senior batter, Cheteshwar Pujara, has nothing better to show. Yes, he has scored some fighting 20s and 30s lately. However, he’s been unable to cross the three-figure mark even once in his last 39 innings. For him as well, the clock is ticking.
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“I do think a similar sort of baggage is there on Pujara too. He has not got a hundred in a long time. Since the start of 2020, Pujara too has averaged in the mid-20s. These are two players who have set their standards very high. They would know they haven’t performed according to expectations,” Dinesh Karthik was quoted as saying while talking about the lack of contributions from the senior duo of Pujara-Rahane.
