"You have players who can take their places" - Ajit Agarkar on Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara's future in Test cricket
Ajit Agarkar believes a call needs to be taken on Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara's future in India's Test side as there are plenty of options waiting in the wings.
Rahane and Pujara, who have both endured long barren runs, could not deliver the goods with the bat in the just-concluded Test series against South Africa as well. They averaged 22.66 and 20.66 with the bat respectively in the three-match series and did not look too comfortable in the middle.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Ajit Agarkar was asked about the two veteran batters' future. He responded:
"There is no doubt that there is scrutiny on Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane and there has to be a discussion about that because you have players who can take their places. Certainly, there are tough decisions to be made, not only about Pujara or only about Rahane, but regarding both of them."
The former India pacer highlighted that the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari and Shubman Gill present excellent alternatives for the underperforming duo. Agarkar elaborated:
"You have two players - Shreyas Iyer played a good Test in Kanpur and I don't think Vihari has done anything wrong whenever he has played Test cricket. You have Shubman Gill as well, so you have options."
Time to try out Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari and Shubman Gill as realistic replacement options in the Test middle-order. The two home Tests vs SL may be too small a sample size but it's a start. #INDvSA
While Iyer scored a century on his Test debut against New Zealand, Vihari has played fighting knocks in the last couple of Tests he has played. Gill, who has been used as an opener by Team India to date, can also show his wares in the middle order.
"Every time Ajinkya Rahane and Pujara go out to bat, we say they are under pressure" - Ajit Agarkar
Ajit Agarkar added that Rahane and Pujara have been fighting for their places for far too long. He explained:
"It is not that you are doing this just because you have lost. We are seeing with both these players for quite some time that every time they go out to bat, we say they are under pressure, or it might be their most important innings, or their last innings in Test cricket and the way they are batting."
The 44-year-old pointed out that the call needs to be made in the best interest of the team and not on emotional grounds. Agarkar observed:
"You will have to decide what is best for your team. You will have to take those decisions and those decisions cannot be emotional, whether that player has played 150 Tests or five Tests. If a player is not taking the team forward, maybe those are the decisions you have to take."
Virat Kohli said "Batting has let us down in last 2 Tests, there is no running away, it's tough to tell now what is the future of Rahane & Pujara now, we need to sit and talk with selectors as well - they have done lots of good job in past, done well in tough situtions".
Agarkar was also surprised that both Rahane and Pujara started the series against the Proteas. However, he did acknowledge that the team management might have wanted to back them once such senior players were selected in the squad.