Last Update on: November 28th, 2021 at 12:26 pm
Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane’s woeful form in the longest format continued as he was dismissed for 4 by New Zealand spinner, Ajaz Patel, on Day 4 of the first Test between the two teams at the Green Park in Kanpur.
Rahane walked in after Cheteshwar Pujara was caught napping down the leg side by Kyle Jamieson. The 34-year-old is living on an extended rope and another failure would all but ensure he may not get another chance. And fail he did as he was dismissed by left-arm spinner, Patel, while on 4.
With the kind of form Rahane is in, even straighter balls are being missed. Patel tossed one up that went on with the angle but Rahane was slow to get his bat across and also completely misread the line. The ball struck him right in front of the off-stump and replays suggested it was crashing into middle and leg.
On the previous ball, Rahane played a sumptuous cover drive but his fortune changed within a ball. With Virat Kohli expected to return for the next match and Shreyas Iyer scoring a century, Rahane’s place in the side looks all but lost.
With the fall of Rahane’s wicket, India suddenly found themselves in trouble at 41/3 with a lead of 90. The track is continuing to hold up and the cracks are taking their time to open up. Day 5 track will not be easy to bat on, especially against the in-form Indian spinners.
Watch Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal here:
