Former India opener Gautam Gambhir said that Ajinkya Rahane will find it difficult to seal a spot in the Indian playing XI on the South Africa tour. With an extended run of poor form in recent times, Rahane’s place in the team has been under the scanner for a while.

Rahane has scored just two half-centuries since scoring a century against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in December last year and his average has been in the mid-20s over the past 29 innings.

So far in 2021, Rahane averages 19.57 in 12 Tests. He is going through the worst phase in his career but this dip has been in the making for a few years. In 2017, he averaged a modest 34.62, followed by a less than ordinary 30.66 in 2018. However, Rahane finished 2019 with an average of 71.33 from 8 Tests.

“Tough, that is what I can say because he is not a starter, to be honest. I feel Ajinkya Rahane will find it difficult to get a place in the playing XI,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.

“You have got Shreyas Iyer; it will be very difficult for India or the captain to drop him because of his recent performances. At the same time, Hanuma Vihari has done really well as well.”

Former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar opened up in support of Rahane’s inclusion because of the “experience” factor in overseas conditions.

“Ajinkya Rahane has got a place for the South Africa tour, and he should have got picked as well because you will definitely need experience there. Whether he gets to play in the first Test match is a question mark and the first match that is played before the Test match is going to be critical.”