Team India’s stand-in skipper, Ajinkya Rahane confirmed on Wednesday that Shreyas Iyer will be making his debut in Test cricket in the first match of the two-Test series against New Zealand at the Green Park Stadium on Thursday. It is now expected that Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill will be opening the innings alongside Shubman Gill, in absence of both first-choice openers — Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul.
Ajinkya Rahane was also asked about his personal form that has witnessed a significant dip in recent times, with his last century coming in Melbourne, during the Australian tour. In his last 15 Test outings, the Mumbai cricket has been batting at an average of under 25 with former skipper Gautam Gambhir too commenting on his poor outings.
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Talking about his form, Ajinkya Rahane said, “I am not concerned at all regarding my form. Contribution doesn’t mean making 100 runs in every game, in several crucial moments making 30,40 or even 50 runs is very important. I always think about the team, never about myself.”
He further added, “I am beyond grateful as it’s honour for me to lead the country. So I’m not focusing on what’ll happen in the future. What is written in our future it’ll always happen but my focus is how I can perform my best in that movement and that’s exactly what I look forward to.”
Rahane however didn’t give out the final combination but there was a strong indication to expect three spin-bowlers in the playing XI. He said the pitches were likely to assist spin because every team is maximizing home advantage given the World Test Championship points at stake in every match.
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Ajinkya Rahane elaborated, “We are not too sure of the combination. But in India you generally get spin-friendly wickets, the ball generally keeps slightly low and slow. We expect that but not too sure how the wicket will play. We will have to wait till tomorrow and assess from there.”
