SA vs IND: Dean Jones startled by top player's exclusion from first two Tests

The Indian captain Virat Kohli and the entire team management are in the middle of answering the big queries and delivering explanations after they suffered two consecutive defeats in the first two Test matches against the Proteas in the African contingent. All the cricket fans and people associated with the game were highly astonished by some strange decisions, the major one being with regard to choices made in selecting the Playing XI in both the games.

Former Australian cricketer Dean Jones was also surprised as India dropped its vice-captain and one of the most prolific overseas batsman Ajinkya Rahane from the team for the first two Test matches. Rahane didn’t have the best of outings in the last few Test matches which he played at home, especially against Sri Lanka where he had a string of low scores in the three-match Test series, which is why Kohli and the team management decided to include limited overs opener Rohit Sharma in the team as he looked to be in a great form and the right mindset to play in the longest format of the game. When asked about Rahane’s exclusion from the first Test match, the Indian captain stated that Rohit was selected ahead of Rahane considering the current form of the two batsman.

Jones has his say

The former Aussie cricketer stated that even he failed to understand the reason for Rahane’ s exclusion from the side in the first instance. But then he realized that Rohit might have been well considered for delivering some incredible performances against Sri Lanka at home and the opener had captivated the prestigious moment, which is teammate failed to do.

Jones also mentioned that Rohit should have taken this series as an opportunity to show his worth as a Test cricketer, but his failure in the first two Tests have raised some serious concerns. The Aussie revealed that the batsman has failed to deliver in the overseas conditions many times before in the longest format of the game.

“I don’t understand that. Because of the two hundreds and the double by Rohit Sharma (208 in ODI vs Sri Lanka in Mohali), they indulged him a bit, I think. Maybe they were captivated by it. But we all know the guy (Rohit) is an outstanding cricketer. He just hasn’t been able to consistently get the knocks they think he can play. But you need a series like this to find out how good you are and how bad you are. Rahane hasn’t made those two hundreds or double hundreds, exceptional performances. So, they tried him out,” said Dean Jones on being amazed with Rahane’s exclusion from the playing XI  as quoted Hindustan Times.