Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion on Ajinkya Rahane missing Test series versus South Africa

The Test series in South Africa has not gone India’s way so far as the Indians were left stranded on Day 1 at a score of 208-8. The South African pacers made complete use of the seaming conditions with Kagiso Rabada getting a fifer and Nandre burger and Marco Jansen chipping in with wickets as well. The only highlight for the India innings was KL Rahul who was still unbeaten on 70 at the end of the day. It will still be very difficult for India to get to a competitive total on the following day with just two wickets left and South African bowlers in good rhythm.

This has led to the experts and fans to question the selectors on this squad, which is missing some big names. There is no doubt that Yashasavi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer are talented individuals, but they have still not played a lot of Test cricket and are playing their first series overseas. There are some players like Ajinkya Rahane who have been left out of the series, who have been brilliant in these conditions and have a lot of experience to handle situations, where batters are struggling to get going.

Opinion from the master

There is no doubt that Sunil Gavaskar is allowed to give his opinions being one of the best batters in Test cricket for India. He also gave his honest opinion on why Ajinkya Rahane should have been in the series while speaking on Star Sports saying “People have been talking about the pitch in the Johannesburg Test five years back and I was there. Yeah, it wasn't the easiest of pitches to bat on as the oddball was climbing up. Ajinkya Rahane, who had not been picked for the first two Test matches, was picked for that game and he showed what the Indian team had missed because earlier on in the first couple of Test matches India did not lose by big margins. So maybe somebody with Rahane's experience overseas... because Rahane overseas has been such a fine, fine player and maybe if he had been there today the story could have been completely different."

With this statement, we have come to realise why Ajinkya Rahane was an important addition to the Test team. He not only has one of the best overseas records but is also one of the best players of pace bowling amongst the Indian batters. Not including Rahane might have been a big mistake considering he was also the best performer the last time India played in the Rainbow Nation. Testing the young players is not a bad idea, but the need for some experienced batters like Rahane could have also made a difference.