There were questions about Ajinkya Rahane’s selection for the final Test against England earlier in the year and now he has been named the captain for the first Test against New Zealand. Ex-India opener Aakash Chopra reckons Rahane would have to score runs or else questions will be raised.
“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,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
Confessing that he is also a Rahane fan, Chopra pointed his poor run of form in the last two seasons. He said: “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.”
Since the beginning of 2020, Rahane has scored 644 runs at a lowly average of 24.76 in the last 15 Tests. Rahane is a far better player than the numbers suggest and that is what Chopra highlights.
“It is a very important series for Rahane. He is there as a captain but he will have to score runs because there is pressure. The last one year has been really ordinary from his standards, by any standards actually,” he concluded.
While Rahane will lead the side in the first Test, Virat Kohli would be back as captain for the second Test.
