South Africa vs India 2018: 5 India players to watch out for in the Test series

#3 Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane has a very good overseas record.

India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has had a tough 2017 as far as red-ball cricket is concerned. Coming back from a finger injury, Rahane started 2017 with a fluent 82 against Bangladesh. But he hasn’t been able to be consistent since then. He did score a hundred in Sri Lanka (in the second Test), but his form has remained patchy.

In 2017, the Mumbai batsman has scored only 554 in 18 innings. And in his 6 innings, he hasn't crossed the 20-mark as well. Hence, he has been in poor form in the lead up to the all-important South Africa tour.

However, every time Rahane has been under pressure, he has delivered. On most occasions when India were under pressure especially overseas, Rahane has bailed them out. Hence, he relishes the challenges and he has been India’s go-to man outside the subcontinent.

The last time Rahane was in South Africa in 2013, he was coming in to fill the big shoes of the great Sachin Tendulkar. But now he is coming here as one of India’s best Test batsmen in recent times.

And he loves the challenge of playing away from home. In fact, he is one of the few players who have a better average playing away from home. His averages 33.63 at home and 53.44 overseas. Hence, Rahane is a vital cog in this Indian batting line-up and is certainly one of the players to watch out for in the series.