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Day 3 of the Cape Town Test may well be the last time Ajinkya Rahane dons the Indian jersey as yet another failure with the bat could spell the end of his Test career. Dismissed for one in the second innings, he has now gone 28 innings without a ton and is steering down the barrel to be out of the squad contention. Earlier he was stripped of the vice-captaincy, which was an early reminder that Rahane was running out of time.
What do the numbers say?
In his last 28 innings, the 33-year-old has scored only three fifties with a best of 67. On 23 occasions he has ended with a score of less than 40 which goes on to show that he was not in the best of touches. In those 28 innings, he scored 574 runs at an unimpressive average of 20.5. On 11 separate occasions, he was dismissed for a single-digit score along with three ducks.
His dismissal off Rabada's bowling left India in a vulnerable position of 58/4. The occasion could have served well for him as time was on his hand with three days of cricket remaining in the decider. But poor shot selection, mistimed shots and wrong judgment have all let him down for the entirety of the last 12 months. He went the entire 2021 without a hundred. Boxing Day Test 2020 was the last time he managed to reach the magical three-figure mark.
Iyer and Vihari in the wings
Shreyas Iyer has been knocking on the doors ever since his debut ton against New Zealand. He has been in superb form in the domestic circuit and in two Test matches so far, has has amassed 202 runs with the highest score of 105. His compatriot, Hanuma Vihari is also a good option to have as he has always impressed whenever presented with a chance. In 13 Tests so far he has 684 runs and five wickets. In the Johannesburg Test, he scored an unbeaten 40 while batting with the tail
If this turns out to be Rahane's last match, he will miss out on a milestone 5000 runs by just 69 runs, having ended with 4931 runs in 82 Test matches. His foot movement in the ongoing tour has been disappointing as he has been unsure of whether to go forward or back resulting in getting stuck in the crease and losing his wicket. The lighting was all set to strike on the right-handed batter, Rahane, after the New Zealand series, but factors such as experience, Rohit Sharma's unavailability, coach Rahul Dravid's faith all paved way for Rahane to be part of the Indian team. He had a good record in South Africa as well but with scores of 0, 58, 9 and 1 in his last four innings, we might well have seen the end of another promising career.
