Cheteshwar Pujara may be confident of him striking form and skipper Virat Kohli may also be taking the transition time slowly, but the wait is costing Team India big time. While Pujara has failed to produce the kind of knocks he is known for, Ajinkya Rahane has been a walking wicket. The pair once again failed to impress in the series-deciding 3rd Test vs South Africa and it seemed that India didn't have a middle-order at all.
Fans had enough which gave rise to a meme fest on social media as #Purane started trending.
While Rahane last scored a hundred in 2020, Pujara reached the 3-figure mark in Test cricket way back in 2019. Moreover, both players have had a drastic dip in their averages since 2019. While Rahane has gone from bad to worse, Pujara too had a similar dip but has been slightly better than Rahane since 2021.
It is clear that Pujara and Rahane don't have much runs to keep themselves in the mix but if the team management takes a call, going by pure numbers, Ajinkya Rahne could be the first one to be dropped.
Also read: Ind vs SA 3rd Test: Always wonderful to play under Virat Kohli, says Bumrah