Rohit overtakes Kohli to grab 5 spot in ICC Test Player Rankings
All eyes on Rahane & Ashwin as India target improved show
London, Sept. 1: Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane’s wretched form and senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s probable inclusion will have the most significant impact on the Indian team’s efforts to move on from its Leeds debacle when it takes on a stronger England in the fourth Test at the Oval starting Thursday.
The high of an inspirational victory at the Lord’s was followed by back-to-back batting debacles at Headingley and the penultimate game at Oval would certainly have an impact on both sides as the series heads towards its busin1ess end.
Skipper Virat Kohli had said that a victory at Lord’s didn’t guarantee a win in the next Test and a defeat at Headingley
doesn’t mean that an encore would happen at the Oval with the series locked at 1-1.
Not the one to believe that outside noise (fans and experts) should be given much credence, the Indian captain, in his heart of hearts, knows that all is not well with his batting unit and the biggest problem is the performance of its three middle-order stalwarts — the skipper himself, Cheteshwar Pujara and his deputy Rahane.
Pujara might have redeemed himself with a knock of 91 which was high on “intent quotient” but the same can’t be said about Rahane, whose form is shaky despite a crucial 61 in the second innings at the Lord’s.
In all likelihood, Rahane would get another chance but over the
past two years, his inconsistency has hurt this team badly.
A total of 95 runs in five innings at an average of 19 is not an indicator of Rahane’s qualities but a spunky strokeplayer like Suryakumar Yadav or an orthodox batter like Hanuma Vihari might bring in a bit of freshness in the middle-order.
If Rahane is dropped at all, then Vihari has a better chance of coming in as he also bowls off-spin.