Veteran batsman Ajinkya Rahane’s poor run with the bat has been a point of concern for Team India in the ongoing Test series against England. As we look forward to the fourth Test, former India pacer Zaheer Khan has picked two possible replacements for the struggling batsman.
Rahane has so far managed only 95 runs in the series including a half century. Ajinkya Rahane attracted widespread criticisms from all quarters after his poor show at Headingley where he managed only 28 runs from both innings.
Speaking on the same lines, Zaheer Khan picked Suryakumar Yadav and Hanuma Vihari as the possible candidates to replace Ajinkya Rahane in the playing XI.
Since the start of England series in 2016, Rahane has averaged 33.77 in 48 Tests – which is roughly two-thirds of his career.
No other Indian top or middle batsman in the last 31 years have averaged under 35 across a 48-Test stretch in his career.#ENGvIND— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) August 28, 2021
Speaking on Cricbuzz, Zaheer said:
“We saw in the first innings of the last match the amount of pressure on the middle-order when the opening partnership didn’t get going. If you look from that perspective, there will surely be a change… Like I have said before, Ajinkya Rahane is suffering from a bit of poor run of form and that’s a position where you can think a bit out of the box.”
“Hanuma Vihari and Suraykumar Yadav are the two options you have. First they have to decide if they even want to go in that direction then it will depend on how the team management is looking at it. If I see from the way the series has gone so far, then this change should certainly be made,” he added.
England will start as the favourites: Zaheer Khan
After thrashing India by an innings and 76 runs, England will be oozing with confidence in the lead up to the fourth Test. Zaheer Khan believes the host will certainly have an edge over India in the Kennington Oval Test.
UPDATE – Prasidh Krishna added to India’s squad
More details here – https://t.co/Bun5KzLw9G #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/IO4JWtmwnF
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 1, 2021
“England definitely have the edge going into this Test because they are coming off such a big win. India were ahead in the series and England leveled it so things like momentum shift and confidence levels will come into play. The England camp will feel they can take the lead and put even more pressure on India for the final Test,” he concluded.
