Indian cricketer Dinesh Karthik believes there will be no harm in dropping Ajinkya Rahane for the second India-New Zealand Test in Mumbai as there is no way Shreyas Iyer can be dropped after his dream debut in Test and that a break can also work in favour of the stand-in captain.
Rahane has come under heavy fire from fans and experts in the cricketing fraternity for his poor show at Green Park, where he scored 35 and 4 in the two innings, respectively. The pressure mounted on him further as Iyer smashed a century in the first innings and hit a crucial fifty in the second to help India secure a draw.
Karthik, while speaking on a Cricbuzz show, quipped that Rahane has been out of form for a long time now that that it “won't be a thing for him” to be left out.
"With Shreyas Iyer coming in and doing so well, I think the pressure will obviously be on Rahane and he might be the one to be dropped. This has happened during a tour of South Africa when Rahane was dropped for a game before he again came back. There is no harm if Rahane's dropped for a game.
{{/usCountry}}"With Shreyas Iyer coming in and doing so well, I think the pressure will obviously be on Rahane and he might be the one to be dropped. This has happened during a tour of South Africa when Rahane was dropped for a game before he again came back. There is no harm if Rahane's dropped for a game.
{{/usCountry}}"Iyer has literally taken India to a safe zone in this Test on his own. He's done really well. And it's not like Rahane has not been among the runs in 1-2 Tests. It has been going on for a long time now. I don't think it's such a bad thing for him to be dropped. It will ease some of the pressure on him," elaborated Karthik.
The second and final game will begin on December 3 and will see the return of skipper Virat Kohli, who had opted out of the three-match T20I series and the first Test.