When was the last time India played a test match without Ajinkya Rahane or Cheteshwar Pujara in playing XI?

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been discarded from the Indian test setup.

Team India will be beginning their battle for the final frontier against South Africa on Tuesday. The Boxing Day test between India and South Africa will be played at Supersport Park in Centurion. Team India have happy memories of this venue as they began their previous test series on African soil at this very ground with a resounding 113-run win in the first test of the three-match series.

A lot of changes have taken place in the Indian setup and two of their key batters in the previous series will be away from action. Indian team management has decided to move away from two of the most senior pros in the middle order and India will be playing their first game without Ajinkya Rahane or Cheteshwar Pujara after almost 12 years. These two have played a significant role in India’s growth in test cricket in the last 12 years.

This was India’s last test without Pujara and Rahane

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been vital cogs in India’s wheel in tests. Pujara and Rahane have played many games together for India and if not together at least one was involved in the action on the field. India’s last game without Pujara and Rahane was in the 2012 tour of Australia played at Adelaide Oval in Adelaide under Virender Sehwag’s captaincy.

Among the current generation of batters, only Virat Kohli was involved in the action and no one among Pujara or Rahane played in that game. India suffered a 4-0 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2012 and got thrashed by 298 runs in Adelaide. Indian batters had a poor game and they couldn’t go past 300 in both innings of the Adelaide test. India were bundled out on 272 in the first innings while on 201 in the second.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been ousted from the Indian team due to their consistently poor run with the bat in tests. Pujara has played 10 test matches in the last two years and has scored only 590 runs in 18 innings while Rahane has scored only 214 runs in 8 innings in the last two years. Rahane was the first one to get dropped, but after the WTC loss and West Indies tour, Indian management has decided to move away from both and groom youngsters.

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