While Rahane and Pujara have been left out of India’s squad for South Africa, they were the backbone of Indian batting order.
All through the last decade, the Indian middle-order in Tests was heavily reliant on Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, especially in foreign conditions. The duo stepped up time and again when the team needed them the most and in situations where the comeback was rather impossible. No one can forget the Australian tour in 2020/21, where India was reduced to 36 all out in the first Test, and from there on Rahane led the team to a series win. Pujara too played a crucial part in it.
And it is not just that Australian tour where the duo stepped up in a time of need, but throughout their careers they have managed to do so. But when the India squad for South Africa was announced on Thursday, the duo was not selected. And visibly, the fans made their views known.
One of the fans reminded of KL Rahul’s poor average.
An angry user went on to say that Rahane-Pujara will be back if India made it to the WTC 25 final.
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Rahane-Pujara Record in Tests
Despite being overlooked for India’s squad for South Africa, Rahane and Pujara remain India’s one of the most successful middle-order batsmen. While Rahane has scored 5077 runs in 85 Tests at an average of 38.46, Pujara has 7195 runs in 103 Tests, at an average of 43.61.
India Squad for South Africa Tour: Rohit Sharma (C), Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Mohd. Shami*, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Prasidh Krishna.
