Sanjay Manjrekar assesses Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara's future for India

Star Indian Test batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have garnered themselves quite a substantial amount of flak, owing to their poor outings with the willow of late. While Pujara has often been criticised for his slow batting, Rahane suffers from inconsistency.

While fans and cricket pundits have been calling for their axing from the Indian Test side, the team management has stuck with them during their hard times. After India lost the Test series against South Africa, the questions around their place in the side have deepened further.

Speaking to News18, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar opened up on Rahane and Pujara's future in the red-ball format for the national side. Asserting on Rahane, Manjrekar opined that the player might have already played his last Test match for India.

"If I am saying that it is Rahane's last match (3rd Test vs South Africa in Cape Town), people should not wonder why I am saying that. I am sure you say the same thing privately, and the others. It's not about runs but also how someone looks in the field. It's from 2017 that Ajinkya Rahane somewhere has shown that he is a little unsure," Manjrekar was quoted as saying to News18.

"You can see it in the way he bats, the way he gets out. That's another thing that gives an indication about a player's game. For example, Virat Kohli is not getting a hundred but he is still putting out the 70s and there is great value in having Virat Kohli before he discovers form. So Rahane for me is clearly somebody that has a shelf life that is over,” the former Mumbai batsman added. 

Citing ex-Indian legend Javagal Srinath's example, Manjrekar implied that by giving more opportunities to Rahane, the team management will shorten the career of a young player.

"And the other thing is when you see senior players, you are cutting the rope for younger players. Javagal Srinath in his prime was sitting out of the playing XI because the selectors were giving a longer rope to some senior players. It's also important that selectors have to keep everyone in Indian cricket who is in contention in mind. So I'll be surprised if Ajinkya Rahane gets picked for obvious reasons; selectors should look at someone beyond him," the cricketer-turned-commentator stated.

Referring to Pujara, Manjrekar believed that the 34-year-old batter still has something to contribute to Indian cricket as the number three batter in the Indian lineup. 

"Pujara is interesting, he's coming close to 100 Test matches. It will need a very unemotional selector to leave him out. And I personally have more time for Pujara than Rahane. This is from observing the way they bat. No other reason. I feel there is something left in Pujara, but Rahane, if I would have been the selector, would have been out of my plans two years back," he concluded.

With India now scheduled to play their next Test match under a new leader, it would interesting to see how they deal with the conundrum surrounding the two seasoned cricketers.