Picture Credit: BCCI
The ongoing 1st Test between India and New Zealand in Kanpur has led to some serious dilemmas for team management going forward. With KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma unavailable, it made way for Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal at the top but the youngsters failed to grasp their opportunity. While Mayank looked out of rhythm, Gill's dismissals of Jamieson raised question marks over his technique.
But amid all this, the major talking points during the match were - Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara. The captain and vice-captain for the Test have been under pressure in the last few months because of their poor form off late. And unfortunately for them, they once again had a poor outing in Kanpur.
While Pujara scored 26 and 22 in the two innings, Rahane registered 35 and 4. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer - who was on his debut - smashed a century and half-century in the contest, presumably sealing his place for the 2nd Test.
Kohli to replace Rahane or Pujara in 2nd Test?
As Virat Kohli is set to return to playing XI in Mumbai, Rahul Dravid and Co. finds themselves in a very tricky situation with whom to replace, with either or both between Rahane and Pujara set to be dropped for the next match.
The netizens also flooded Twitter with their opinions on the situation with most of them suggesting that it's time for India to look beyond the experienced duo. Rahane and Pujara have played some match-winning knocks for the national side over the years which is why they have so much respect from the Indian cricket lovers but there is a common belief among the supporters now that the duo's time is over.
A large section of supporters believed that the team should now consider the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill and other youngsters going forward, moving past Rahane and Pujara.
Check out the tweets:
In 2021, Rahane has had a below-par average of less than 20 while Pujara's average of around 30 isn't that impressive either. However, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar opined that Rahane is being targeted wrongly. The 72-year-old also termed his decision to not take DRS in the second innings as 'selfless' which did not go down well with the Indian fans. They criticized Gavaskar for defending a fellow cricketer from Mumbai.