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ENG vs IND 2021: 3 Players Who Can Replace Ajinkya Rahane At The Oval
India’s Test Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has been not looking in good touch recently. Fans and cricket experts have come down heavily on Rahane for his continuous poor performance with the bat. Since the start of the England series in 2016, the 33-year-old has averaged 33.77 in 48 Tests. This is the lowest Test average among any Indian top or middle batsman in the last 31 years. Notably, no other Indian batter has averaged under 35 across a 48-Test stretch.
In the last 10 Test games, Rahane has played this year he has managed to score only 358 runs at an average of just 21.05. During this period he smashed only 2 fifties. Also, his poor form was witnessed in the ongoing series against Joe Root’s England. Notably, he only played one good knock of 61 which came in the second innings of Lord’s Test. Overall, Rahane has scored just 95 runs in five innings. Now the 5-match Test series is leveled at 1-1. England and India will be heading to Kennington Oval for the 4th Test which will begin on 2nd September 2021. India might be looking forward to a replacement for Rahane considering his poor form.
Let’s have a look at 3 players who can replace Ajinkya Rahane in the Indian Test side
Suryakumar Yadav
The star Mumbai Indians batsman Suryakumar Yadav is in red hot form. He was awarded Player of the series for his incredible run in the ODI series against Sri Lanka which eventually led Suryakumar to get his Test call up for the England series. However, so far he haven’t played Test cricket for Indian but he has a plethora of experience in red-ball cricket. As in 77 red ball matches, Suryakumar has scored 5326 runs with a 44+ average. Also, he has smashed 14 centuries and 26 half-centuries. He possesses great attack and defense skills, he is one of the top contenders to take the spot of Ajinkya Rahane in the Test team.
Mayank Agarwal
Mayank Agarwal was very unfortunate to miss out on the first two Test games of the 5-match series against England. As Mayank was all set to open the innings with Rohit Sharma. However, he suffered an injury on his head in a training session and was ruled out of the first Test. In his absence, KL Rahul was allowed to open with Rohit Sharma and he did a great job. With the continuous great performance, Rahul cemented his spot in top order which led Mayank to miss out on the Test. So far Mayank has scored 1052 runs in 14 Test matches at a 45+ average. Although he is an opener he can still play in middle order considering his solid defense technique. Team India can definitely replace Mayank Agarwal with Ajinkya Rahane in Test cricket.
Hanuma Vihari
Rahane since 2020:
46, 29, 7, 9, 42, 0, 112, 27*, 22, 4, 37, 24, 1, 0, 67, 10, 7, 27, 49, 15, 5, 1, 61, 18, 10. #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/WUouB6kXz1
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) August 28, 2021
Hanuma Vihari has been a hot topic of discussion among cricket fans after the continuous failure of Ajinkya Rahane. Every time Rahane fails to score good runs Vihari starts trending on Twitter and fans demand Indian management to give him a slot in playing XI. So far, In 12 Test matches, Vihari has scored 624 runs at an average of 32.84. However, These numbers don’t depict the real talent of the 27-year-old. He is currently the front runner to replace Ajinkya Rahane in the Indian Test team. As he has the skill to survive for long hours in the purest form of the game. He even made his Test debut on England soil only in 2018 and scored a half-century. Once again he can replicate his heroic performance once he gets the chance to play for India in whites.
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The post ENG vs IND 2021: 3 Players Who Can Replace Ajinkya Rahane At The Oval appeared first on Cricfit.
