IND vs NZ 2021: If You Are To Make A Change, There Is Only One Person Whose Place Virat Kohli Can Take, Which Is Ajinkya Rahane – Madan Lal

Updated - 30 Nov 2021, 05:28 PM

Madan Lal
Madan Lal. Image-Twitter

Former India all-rounder Madan Lal has opined that Ajinkya Rahane is the only player who can be dropped from the Indian Test team when Virat Kohli joins the squad in the second Test against New Zealand.

India and New Zealand played an exceptional 5-day cricket in the first Test match of the two-match Test series at Green Park, Kanpur. However, the match ended in a draw.

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Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli. Image-Twitter

Virat Kohli was rested for the first Test against New Zealand, and Ajinkya Rahane took the leadership responsibility, and Cheteshwar Pujara was his deputy. However, Virat Kohli will return to the team in the second Test, which will begin on December 3 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

To make place for Virat Kohli in the team, India will have to drop a player, and two poor performers for India were Ishant Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. Ishant went wicketless in both innings, and Rahane’s scored only 35 and 4 in the two innings.

Shreyas Iyer Scored Valuable Runs In Both Innings – Madan Lal

IND vs NZ 2021: Management Will Make A Call In Mumbai - Ajinkya Rahane On Who Will Make Way For Virat Kohli's Return In Second Test

Debutant Shreyas Iyer was the original replacement for Virat Kohli in the first Test match. However, he smashed a brilliant century and a half-century in the match, and he can’t be dropped from the team after his sensational performance. Meanwhile, Former Indian all-rounder Madan Lal was asked on Sports Tak will Rahane be part of the Indian Playing XI in the second Test, to which he replied:

I don’t think so, Shreyas Iyer scored valuable runs in both innings, and then Pujara is a batter who has scored runs. He may have not scored big hundreds but Pujara has stayed at the wicket and scored runs.

“The same cannot be said about Rahane though. So I feel that if you are to make a change, there is only one person whose place Virat can take, which is Ajinkya Rahane.”

Ajinkya Rahane
(Image Credit: Twitter)

Notably, Rahane has been in extremely poor form for an extended period. Since scoring a match-winning century in MCG Test, he has scored only two fifties, and he averaged below 20 in the home series against England and the India tour of England as well.

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India National Cricket Team Madan Lal New Zealand national cricket team Virat Kohli