5 Veteran Indian Players Whose Career Might Come To an End In The Rahul Dravid Era

The recently held T20 international between India and New Zealand on Wednesday marked the start of Rahul Dravid-Era in Indian Cricket. Rahul Dravid is the new head coach of the Indian Cricket Team, while Rohit Sharma has been appointed as the new skipper in T20 internationals.

India have made a positive start under the tutelage of Rahul Dravid after winning the first of the three-match T20I series against New Zealand on Wednesday. After winning the toss and opting to bowl first, India restricted New Zealand to 164 runs in the first innings. Ravi Ashwin and Bhuvneshwar Kumar starred with the ball, picking two wickets each. Rohit Sharma and Co. chased down the score in 19.4 overs.

The ongoing series is the first assignment for Rahul Dravid as Indian Cricket Head Coach. This will be followed by a two-match Test series against the same team. In the next two years, India will be playing a T20 World Cup, a 50-over World Cup and also ICC World Test Championship. During this period, one could see some of the veteran Indian players whose Careers might Come to an end. Here’s a look at five of those players.

5 Veteran Indian Players Whose Career Might Come To an End In The Rahul Dravid Era

1. Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane will be captaining India in the first of the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand. However, one couldn’t ignore the fact that he has looked a pale shadow of his former self in the last couple of years. In the India tour of England, Ajinkya Rahane could score only 109 runs in 4 Tests at an average of 15.57.

Rahane has played 11 Tests this year and has only managed to score 372 runs at a dismal average of 19.58. If things didn’t improve from here, Ajinkya Rahane’s Test Cricket Career might come to an end.

2. Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav is no longer a part of India’s white-ball setup. He played his last ODI against West Indies in 2018, while his last T20I was against Australia in 2019. Add to that, he is no longer the first-choice seamer in Test Cricket. With age not on his side, it doesn’t look like Umesh Yadav could prolong his career for too long.

Also, with so many young fast bowling waiting in the wings, Umesh Yadav’s career might come to an end in an year or two. He has picked 154 wickets in Test Cricket in 49 matches at an average of 30.24.

3. Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is no longer a part of India’s Test team. And to be honest, his performances in white-ball cricket, of late, haven’t been too inspiring either. Kumar played India’s first match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021 against Pakistan. It never looked like he could trouble the batsmen.

He has lost pace as well as the ability to swing the ball as much as he used to. Bhuvneshwar Kumar recently played the first of the three-match T20I against New Zealand. He picked 2 for just 24 runs in 4 overs. However, despite that, he could get dropped if he fails to perform for a couple of games straight in the upcoming fixtures. While he still has a lot of years to play, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s career might come to a premature end in the Rahul Dravid Era.

4. Hanuma Vihari

Hanuma Vihari is excluded from India’s recent squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand. The selectors have sent him to South Africa with India A squad in a bid to prepare him for India’s future Test series against South Africa. But is it really fair to not play him in the home Test series? There could be a chance that we might not see Hanuma Vihari playing for the Indian Test team ever again. Hanuma Vihari’s career is likely to end in the Rahul Dravid Era.

5. Ravichandran Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin is an integral part of India’s Test team. Add to that, he has now been added into India’s T20 squad as well. He was part of India’s squad in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2021. Ashwin also played the first T20I against New Zealand on Wednesday, in which he returned with figures of 2 for 23 in 4 overs.

Having said that, we have to accept the fact that his age won’t allow him to play for too long. He is currently 35 years old and one could see him retire in a few years.