The Indian cricket team won nine consecutive Test series under the leadership of Virat Kohli before going head-on against South Africa. Ahead of this epic face-off, Indian cricket fans were very excited about the away series and were hopeful that they would continue their winning streak on the South African soil as well. However, the entire the story took a different turn when the Indians experienced their first-ever defeat in a bilateral series under Kohli’s captaincy. They lost the first match by 72 runs and the second by 135, ultimately losing the Test series by 2-0.
In both the games, two different playing XIs were introduced against the Protean pace attack. Many changes were made and several players were in and out of the team but Ajinkya Rahane was one who didn’t get to play in any of the two games.
How Rahane’s absence created a difference?
Most of the people might be unaware of the fact that Ajinkya Rahane has the best average outside Asia. However, his unimpressive performance against Sri Lanka led him out of the team.
Secondly, he has never been run out in any of the Test innings he has played till date in his career. Though Rahane has been a part of 149 partnerships in Test cricket, neither he nor his partner have been dismissed in this way. It’s a unique world record which the Indian Test vice-captain owns.
If India want to do away with the run outs then there is a bloke called Ajinkya Rahane who has had 149 partnerships in Tests without ever being involved in a run out – currently a WORLD RECORD! #RSAvInd
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) January 17, 2018
On the other hand, in the second Test in Centurion, Cheteshwar Pujara was run out in both the innings. This is the first instance in 17 years that a batsman got run out twice in a single Test. Apart from Pujara, all-rounder Hardik Pandya also got run in a very irresponsible manner. These two wickets cost India a lot in both the innings and despite Indian skipper scoring his 21st century, India still lost the match.
The home team leads the series now by 2-0 while the third and the final Test will be played at New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg which starts from January 24.
