'Respect senior players': Ajinkya Rahane's indirect dig at India selectors as Test team struggles after Rohit, Kohli, Ashwin retirements

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'Respect senior players': Ajinkya Rahane's indirect dig at India selectors as Test team struggles after Rohit, Kohli, Ashwin retirements originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:​

• Ajinkya Rahane believes India's Test team lacks experienced players following the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and R Ashwin.
• His comments come as India is struggling through a tough phase in Test cricket.
• The Men in Blue suffered a historic 2-0 home Test series whitewash against South Africa in their last Test assignment in late 2025.
• India will next tour Sri Lanka in August, hoping to revive their World Test Championship campaign.

India's Test struggles continue as Ajinkya Rahane questions lack of senior players​

India's transition into a new Test era has suffered another major setback after head coach Gautam Gambhir's side endured a historic 2-0 home series whitewash against South Africa in November 2025.

The defeat was India's second home Test series whitewash in consecutive years, following the 3-0 loss to New Zealand in 2024.

After losing 3-1 in Australia (2024) and drawing 2-2 in England (2025), India briefly bounced back with a 2-0 series victory over West Indies (2025) on their away tours before South Africa exposed familiar batting frailties at home to complete a historic 2-0 sweep on Indian soil.

There has been scrutiny over the team's direction since the retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli before the England Test series in 2025, while Ravichandran Ashwin announced his retirement during the 2024 BGT series in Australia.

The losses at home, particularly on spin pitches in the subcontinent, have been the bigger concern.

Now, former India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has voiced his concerns ahead of the Sri Lanka Test series, suggesting the current side lacks the experienced core required to succeed in Test cricket.

MORE:Virat Kohli's 'favourite batting partner' Ajinkya Rahane speaks about the iconic Indian duo's partnership in Tests

Ajinkya Rahane says India has 'no senior players' in Test team, fears for future​

Speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, Rahane said Test cricket demands a balance between experienced campaigners and youngsters in the side.

"Test cricket fans love this format a lot. New players have become part of the team in the last two years," he said.

"I feel Test cricket needs seven to eight experienced cricketers and two or three youngsters. But all the players are new at the moment. There are no senior players in the team," Rahane noted on the Indian team's tough period in the format.

Rahane added that the simultaneous departures of several stalwarts had inevitably weakened the side.

"You need to respect the players who are senior. I fear for the future of the Test format. The senior players leaving at once has impacted the Indian team."

The retirements of Rohit, Kohli, and Ashwin created a need for India to transition quickly, with Shubman Gill now leading a relatively inexperienced squad tasked with rebuilding while also needing to be competitive in the World Test Championship after missing the final in 2025.

MORE:BGT 2027: Reason revealed why Australia won't play warm-up games before blockbuster India series

The Cricket News Opinion: India's struggles against spin a big worry ahead of Sri Lanka tour​

The Indian Test team can expect the Sri Lankans to attack them with spin.

Since 2021, 75% of the wickets in Sri Lanka have been taken by spinners. Left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya will lead the home side's spin attack, having picked up 96 wickets at home during this period, while off-spinner Ramesh Mendis has taken 70 wickets.

Earlier this year, Gambhir had blamed the lack of preparation on turning wickets as the reason for India's struggles against spin: "We don't play on that kind of wicket. It is not like that you play on one wicket for the whole year, and suddenly it starts spinning, then you adapt accordingly."

"Earlier players used to practice on the training track. If you see today, our net wicket is also as thick as a T20 wicket. If you play on a flat wicket, you will definitely face problems in playing on a turning wicket. So I believe the most important thing is the kind of preparation one does, especially in Test matches."

India needs to beat Sri Lanka to keep their WTC chances alive. A 2-0 series win will take the team to 57.58 percentage points, a draw will keep them at 48.48, while a 2-0 series loss would see India slump to just 39 percentage points, which would practically remove them from contention for the final.

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