Is it the final chapter for Pujara and Rahane?

Players leave, either through a much-feted retirement or when the selectors deem that the concerned athlete is no longer essential. It is the nature of sport and cricket isn’t immune to it.

That two vital batters in the Indian middle-order — Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane — were dropped from the team picked to take on the visiting Sri Lankans in the forthcoming two Tests, reflects their extended drought and also highlights the transition blues affecting the unit helmed by Rohit Sharma.

Definite roles

Pujara at number three was a natural successor to Rahul Dravid while Rahane had to play a role similar to V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly, paper over the cracks and shepherd the tail.

Through their distinct ways, Pujara and Rahane became intrinsic to the middle-order as evident from their 95 and 82 Tests respectively. But a prolonged dip in form which found another poor chapter during the last tour of South Africa with Pujara yielding 124 and Rahane doing marginally better at 136 meant that the knives were out.

At 34 and 33 respectively, Pujara and Rahane were also judged on their age and with Hanuma Vihari, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal being part of the mix, the selectors had to look ahead.

There are examples from the past when leading batsmen like Mohinder Amarnath or Ganguly, have made a comeback. Whether Pujara and Rahane can find a second wind through the Ranji Trophy and break open the door much akin to what Laxman did during his initial run at the highest level remains to be seen.

Pujara’s adhesive factor, ability to bat long and take body-blows would be missed and Rahane, when he was in his element, had an innate calmness and lovely shots besides being an effective stand-in skipper. Both have a sense of dignity, seemingly an anachronism in these frenzied times.

Inconsistency

It is just that while the pandemic raged and cricket became intermittent, the two batters found consistency elusive and Virat Kohli too wasn’t batting at his best. It burdened Rishabh Pant and the lower-order, and despite India’s bowling riches, runs on the board was a non-negotiable demand.

During the 1982-83 tour of Pakistan which Imran Khan dominated, batting artist G.R. Viswanath lost his form. He was subsequently dropped and left stranded on 91 Tests. Pujara and Rahane may avoid that fate or else this would mark the end of an era.