Ajinkya Rahane's poor run of form with the bat continued on Sunday as he was dismissed for just four runs against New Zealand on the fourth day of the opening Test at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. Rahane departed in a lbw dismissal off an Ajaz Patel delivery as his batting average for this year dipped below 20. The 33-year-old India batter now has an average of just 19.6 runs for this year, underlining the scale of his struggle at the crease over the last few months.
Fans weren't pleased with Rahane losing his wicket for another low score on Sunday, with many calling for him to be dropped in the second Test in Mumbai.
"Rahane's test average has dropped below 40. It's 39 right now. I don't remember a single Indian batsman who got to play so long with less than 45 average! Sehwag, Sachin, Laxman, Dravid all had an average in excess of 45! Even Gambhir and Ganguly averaged around 42.." wrote a fan on Twitter.
"People saying that Kohli should be questioned too, remember Rahane has 12 career centuries and Virat has 13 overseas centuries," tweeted another user.
"India should make Ashwin as vice captain in the next Test.!From the SA series Rohit Sharma should be named aa the vice captain.!And finally Thank you Rahane.!" tweeted a user.
"Forget Rahane's runs, see what team demands. It demands a new vice captain in Test," another fan opined.
Rahane's dismissal was part of India's top-order collapse as the hosts were reduced to 51/5 by New Zealand at one point on Sunday.
However, Shreyas Iyer hit a half-century to help India recover from the early jolts in their second innings.