Ajinkya Rahane has registered two single-digit scores in the ongoing Test series against West Indies.
Rahane was recalled to the Test team for the WTC 2023 final against Australia and he registered scores of 89 and 46 in the marquee clash at The Oval last month.
As expected, Rahane retained his place in the Test side for the West Indies tour and he was also handed the vice-captaincy of the team.
However, the 35-year-old managed to score only 3 runs in India’s only innings in the Dominica Test while he fell for another single-digit score (8) in the first innings of the second Test at Queen’s Park Oval.
After a couple of failures in the Caribbean, former India opener Wasim Jaffer has said that Ajinkya Rahane will have to consistently score runs to remain in the Test reckoning.
"Rahane will have to show consistency in his game, which has been his problem even though he has played 80-90 Tests (84). Consistency has been an issue, he will have to overcome it because India have a good captaincy option in him after Rohit Sharma is done.
"Rahane will have to make runs, and then everything else will follow," Jaffer told media during an interaction organised by Jio Cinema on Friday (July 21).
Wasim Jaffer further opined that the Indian selectors see a strong captaincy option in Rahane.
"If his form was great from that Australia series after that 36 all-out, the way he led, scored a hundred in Melbourne... had his form remained the same, he would have been the next Test captain. But he lost his form and got dropped," Jaffer stated.
"However, he reinvented himself in the IPL and got a chance in the WTC final. He was appointed the vice-captain as well, because the Indian selectors see a good leader in him. He still has age on his side but he needs to score runs, if he does not then he will find it difficult," he remarked.
(With PTI Inputs)