Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli or Aijnkya Rahane - Who has been India's best Test batter since Sachin Tendulkar's retirement

3) Ajinkya Rahane - The silent assassin

Ajinkya Rahane is rock solid – a picture of excellence

Be in the numbers or the way he has gone about his business, Ajinkya Rahane has been an absolute rock in the Indian setup. Earmarked for Test cricket with his solid technique, Rahane is one has taken seamlessly to the team and performed at every stage.

Since Sachin’s retirement, there are few who can claim to have contributed to India’s success as much as Rahane has.

How has he fared?

Matches (Post Sachin’s retirement)	Runs	Average	100s	50s
24	1854	49.84	7	8

Be it in England or Australia, Delhi or Colombo and now Kingston or St. Lucia, Ajinkya Rahane has developed into a consistent run-machine. He has the ability to amass runs effortlessly and has provided steel to the Indian middle order.

India had a great batsman at #5 for a number of years, Rahul Dravid, and now, Rahane has stepped into that mould and excelled. What’s more is that Rahane is also the vice-captain of the India side and he’s the perfect anchor to Kohli’s aggression.

Rahane has become India’s ‘go-to man’ when the chips are down, when the team needs runs, when a game needs to be saved. He has the ability to read situations very easily and adapt his game accordingly. Thus, one would find it difficult to argue with the fact that Rahane has done the best since Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement.