'BCCI will give farewell to Rahane': Fans infuriated as India leave out Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari from Playing XI
The 33-year-old Rahane has managed to score just 411 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 19.57 this year.
As Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first against South Africa in Centurion, he informed about the team housing four pacers and a spinner for the Test series opener. India decided to go with three front-line pacers in Mohammed Siraj, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Shardul Thakur, with Ravichandran Ashwin being the lone spinner.
While the bowling setup looked unsurprising, Ajinkya Rahane's presence in the batting unit irked a few fans, especially when the Indian team had Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari at its disposal. In the middle-order, both seniors -- Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahane -- have been picked in the side, hinting that the management wants to give a long rope to the under-fire duo.
The 33-year-old Rahane managed to score just 411 runs in 12 Tests at an average of 19.57 this year. However, the Mumbaikar who led India to the historic Test series win Down Under, averages over 40 in away conditions, with eight of his 12 Test tons coming outside the country. Rahane's inclusion for the Boxing Day Test can be justified by his overseas batting record.
Fans, however, were quick to point out that Iyer had scored a century in his last Test against New Zealand. Vihari has also got three fifties in his last three games against South Africa A at Bloemfontein.
Earlier, head coach Rahul Dravid had said that Rahane was in "really good space", indicating that the right-handed batter is still in the team's scheme of things. "The conversations with him have been very positive, he's training really well this week. The conversations are no different from actually with most of the players. He seems to be in a really good space," Dravid had said in the pre-match press conference.
"In terms of the playing XI, who's going to play you know, I think we're very clear within our group, what the kind of team is going to be leading into the Boxing Day test match."
Nevertheless, Rahane didn't get a chance to bat in the first session of the Centurion Test, with openers Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul putting up a steady show in testing conditions. India reached 83 for no loss at lunch on the first day. Agarwal carried his good from the home series against New Zealand while Rahul stuck to the approach that had helped him perform in England.
Here's how fans reacted to Rahane's inclusion in the Playing XI:
