India's tour of South Africa 2018: Analysing India's batting riches

Ajinkya Rahane

Woefully out of form lately, I sincerely hope Rahane will turn around his fortunes in a dramatic fashion, cometh Cape Town! His returns away from India might well sway Virat to playing him, ignoring his current returns. All he has to do is watch those videos from the archives when he ruled and gathered runs by bucketfuls.

He is at his best when he plays tight and close to his body, and in seaming decks against the might of Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, and Morne Morkel, it is a safe bet, dare I say! Lately, he may have developed the bad habit of fishing and poking outside the off stump in anxiety, which led to agony and virtually no returns.

Rohit Sharma

With oodles of talent and a remarkable sense of time and timing, which, even seasoned batsmen crave and cringe for at the crease, Rohit Sharma is the kind of batsmen one pays to watch. But even his staunchest fan would admit that he has underachieved in Tests, making one and all pluck hair in abject frustration. Unless India play four proper bowlers and Saha, Rohit won't get a look in, and I think Rahane may well be preferred over Rohit, despite the latter's red-hot form.

After having missed the entire home season of 2016-17, when all his peers filled their boots, he was agonizingly out of the team, having had his thigh operated. Put in that context, he may be running out of time, should he not fulfill his abundant potential by churning out hard runs in these 15 months ahead of him. Unlike Rahane, he may not have happy memories of his sojourn to SA, England or to Australia.

But that is the challenge that he must embrace and it is about time he girds up his loins to not go down without a scrappy fight, even ink in ugly runs, should the situation demand.

'Now or never' time stares Rohit square in the face!