"Shamelessly missing practice match"- Fans roast Ajinkya Rahane on his absence from warm-up game

Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will not participate in the three-day practice match between Team India and the County Championship XI at Durham.

Rohit Sharma is captaining the Indian team in their absence, and the likes of Hanuma Vihari and KL Rahul will get to bat in the middle order.

India has won the toss and opted to bat first in the practice game.

Twitter reacts to Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane missing warm-up game

Fans on Twitter were skeptical about Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane missing the practice game. They believe conditions in England will be challenging for batting, and two of India's most important batters should have played the match.

Some also doubted whether Ajinkya Rahane had been dropped from the playing XI due to his poor form. Here's what fans had to say:

Why Rahane rested ??? Has Team management dropped him?? https://t.co/NqbfzpIUAe

— Pulkit Arora (@impulkit86) July 20, 2021

Kohli & Rahane gone England for holiday 😡😡😡😡😡 https://t.co/ldsX5QZQda

— Dave (@CricketDave27) July 20, 2021

Rahane coming to India to bail out Raj Kundra? https://t.co/9QTheDmyHA

— Varun (@wizardrincewind) July 20, 2021

Like Kohli and Rahane are all set to score 500 runs in the actual series 🤡🤡 https://t.co/gqwg0QreZL

— Shayan (@shayan07_) July 20, 2021

Rahane himself probably won't score 300+ runs in the series but shamelessly missing practice match.

— Mikhail (@MikSpamsL2) July 20, 2021

Rahane should've played though, needs BATTING practice.

— Ryan (@ryandesa_07) July 20, 2021

Surprise Surprise cc @grharsh Captain changed to win toss? https://t.co/IyAkgwiFuV

— ಮುಚ್ಕೊಳ್ಳಿ 😷 + ವ್ಯಾಕ್ಸಿನ್ ಚುಚ್ಚಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ 💉 (@OggaraNe) July 20, 2021

Quite surprising, Virat and Rahane aren’t playing in the Indians vs County XI game. Can understand why Shami and Ashwin aren’t but Virat and Rahane???

— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) July 20, 2021

I understand resting bowlers but Kohli and Rahane? I mean, the more you play the more acclimatized you get to such conditions, right?

— sonali (@samtanisonali1) July 20, 2021

Resting bowlers is understandable but no sense in Kohli and Rahane not playing, as batsman the more you play, the more you get used to the conditions.

— D I V Y A N S H ❁ (@ImDivyansh_17) July 20, 2021

Get your head around this or are people reading too much: India make a late request for a tour match, rest the team’s core players in Kohli, Rahane, Ashwin and Shami. #INDvFCCXI #INDvENG

— Devarchit (@Devarchit) July 20, 2021

Rahane needed this match time the most. Same last tour key players did not play warm ups and then performance was for all to see. Few spots are being taken for granted because certain tour they won it for us

— Wear Mask. Be Safe (@vishal_mehra1) July 20, 2021

Has the team management lost faith in Ajinkya Rahane?

Last year, Ajinkya Rahane hit a sensational hundred in the Boxing Day Test Down Under and also led the Indian team to a historic series win in the absence of Kohli. Many had touted Rahane to take over the Test captaincy full time.

However, as has been the case with Ajinkya Rahane, inconsistency has once again crept into his batting. The right-hander has been getting off to starts but is failing to convert them into big scores.

The way Rahane is being dismissed has also become a cause for concern. In the World Test Championship (WTC) final, the 33-year-old was caught at square leg in the first innings and was strangled down the leg side in the second essay.

Fans have been frustrated to see this inconsistent side of Rahane, but the question is, has the team management too? There have been reports of Hanuma Vihari and KL Rahul being seen as options in the middle order.

With both playing in the warm-up game, could this mean that Rahane won't start the first Test against England? Only time will tell.