Former India opener Gautam Gambhir opined that Ajinkya Rahane is extremely fortunate to be part of the Indian squad for the upcoming two Tests against New Zealand. In fact, Rahane will captain India in the first Test which starts from November 25 in Kanpur, while Virat Kohli is resting.
Kohli will return to lead the team for the second Test match which begins in Mumbai on December 3rd.
Rahane has not been in good form with the bat with only one century in the last Tests in the last 3 years and a single half-century in the four Tests against England in recent most series. In the last 15 Tests, Rahane amassed 644 runs at an average of 24.76 and his average fell below 40 for the first time since November 25, 2015.
Gambhir, on Star Sports' show 'Game Plan', picked Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul to open in the first Test while slotting in Shubman Gill at No.4.
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"I am going to open with Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul because he opened in England and then probably Shubman Gill will bat at No. 4."That's what I would want to see and plus Rahane is pretty fortunate that he's still part of this side because he's leading... But again he's got another opportunity now, hopefully, he can make that count," Gambhir said.
Not only Gambhir, but Aakash Chopra also questioned Rahane’s spot in the Indian team.
"You have picked Ajinkya Rahane as the captain. But the truth is also that, let's be honest, there was a question about him being selected for the last Test against England if the match had happened. As much as I like Ajinkya Rahane, the fact is that the average has been seen falling down only. There has been an odd good knock in between for sure but the average has fallen 20 points in the last two years. Rahane's average has never gone so low," he said on his YouTube channel.
The India-New Zealand Test series will mark the beginning of the second cycle of the World Test Championship with New Zealand beginning their title-defence.
