Picture Credit: Twitter
Ajinkya Rahane is not having the greatest of time out in the field. He is struggling to find runs from his bat. His inconsistency in the middle order is proving costly for India. Rahane continued his poor form with the bat in the second Test and failed to score yet again. After struggling on Day 1, he perished on the very first delivery he faced on the second day. His way of dismissal was not different from any typical struggling batsman getting out. He pushed at the away-going delivery from Anderson and was caught in the slips.
Twitter users did not seem happy with Rahane's performance at all. They went on to troll the Indian batsman for his poor display. Some called him a tailender while some termed him 'a night watchman'. Check out some of the reactions from Indian fans here.
Middle muddle for India?
It's not just Rahane who is finding it hard to score runs. India's middle-order, consisting of probably the best batters, is finding it hard to score consistently. Cheteshwar Pujara at number three has not played anywhere close to his standards. We all know him as the guy who holds one end, but he's continuously finding it difficult, especially in England. Looking at his stats in Tests from 2020, he has played 13 matches and scored only 552 runs at an average of 25.09, including five half-centuries. In the first innings of the second Test, he played away from his body to a ball that could have been left alone.
The Indian captain and vice-captain at four and five have not been impressive either. Virat has scored 387 runs from 10 matches at an average of 24.18. Even in the first innings, he looked shaky. Meanwhile, Rahane has accumulated 541 runs at an average of 25.76 runs from 13 matches, including one century and one half-century.