3 players who could replace Ajinkya Rahane at No.5 for the Sri Lanka Test series

Ajinkya Rahane hasn’t had much to cheer ever since he scored a century against Australia in the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy. The veteran batter got the Player of the Match award as India, under his leadership, won the match by eight wickets.

From there on, he’s been searching for runs. Despite not being up to the mark, he’s found his way into the Indian Test teams. India’s next Test assignment is against Sri Lanka and it remains to be seen if he makes the cut for the two-match series.

Let’s look at three players who can replace Ajinkya Rahane for the Sri Lanka Tests

3. Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer made his international debut back in 2017 and it took him four long years to don the whites. The right-hander forayed into the Test series during India’s home series against New Zealand in November and he made a memorable start to his career.

In his very first outing, he won the Player of the Match award after he got scores of 105 and 65. Batting at No.5, Iyer showed that he has the temperament to succeed at the highest level. But to his dismay, he didn’t get to play a single game on the tour of South Africa.

2. Hanuma Vihari

Hanuma Vihari isn’t the luckiest man when it comes to playing Test cricket for Team India. The Andhra batter made his debut in the 2018 England tour but has been in and out of the team. Back in January 2021, he helped India draw a Test against Australia at the iconic SCG.

Thereafter, he didn’t get to play in England and was left out of the series against the Black Caps as well. Vihari was then picked for the India A team for the South Africa tour where he made some useful runs. Thereafter, he found his way back into the national team.

1. Suryakumar Yadav

Suryakumar Yadav has made a name for himself while playing ODI and T20I cricket over the last 12 months. He made his debut against England last year and hasn’t overly done badly. But the fact that he’s an efficient red-ball player can’t be denied by any means.

In 77 first-class games, Yadav has scored 5326 runs at an average of 44.01 with 14 centuries and 26 half-centuries. That he plays at a strike rate of 62.68 shows the fluency with which he plays. The 31-year-old can replace Ajinkya Rahane on the tour of Sri Lanka.