Can aging middle order duo of India undo their mistakes to revive their career?

The last time Pujara reached the magic three-digit number in test was in January 2019, he has average of mere 27 since then, and the scariest part is that those are the figures of India’s no. 3 batsman! Surely those numbers wouldn’t tell you the whole story but at the same time, numbers don’t lie. What for Rahane? The hero of MCG and the captain of India’s historic win in Australia last year, the script is same. He has average of just 19.57 since then! It’s not an argument that whether they are worthy of playing at highest level. They both combine have 11,564 international runs and 30 centuries in tests. They carried the burden of Indian middle order for so long but can they do it now at an age of 34 and 33 respectively, with such mediocre form? Specially with the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari and Shubhman Gill in middle order waiting for their chances in queue?

From the perspective of team management, they are yet to press that panic button as both are selected for SA tour. But they clearly gave indication by removing Rahane as deputy of Kohli. It seems like for more than a year now, both Pujara and Rahane are playing only on basis of their reputation in the format. Till date they had backing of Ravi Shastri, the former coach but from now on as Dravid is in charge, things could look different. Dravid is known for giving chances to youngsters and now it could be very difficult for them to sustain in that setup. The only option remained for them is to perform and perform consistently.

The current situation regarding the selection of playing 11 look much trickier. As of now, for the first test, the place of Pujara looks safe, But that’s not the case for Rahane. Specially after Iyer scored a ton on debut vs NZ in Nov. playing at no 5.

Rahane has phenomenal record in South Africa. He has average of 53.20 in 6 innings with two fifty plus scores. Shreyas Iyer who is seen as Rahane's replacement is yet to play an overseas test. Furthermore, KL Rahul the new vice-captain of team gave indication that team could play with five bowling options that means one of Rahane or Iyer might miss out. It will be very interesting to see whom India will pick. Will they go with Iyer? the young attacking talent from Mumbai or will they persist with Rahane? a tried and tested gun in the format, who ironically is also from Mumbai!