IND vs NZ, 2nd Test: Will Ajinkya Rahane play his first Test at his home stadium, Wankhede?

Ajinkya Rahane's eight and a half year testing career is at a crossroads. After a long period of success as a middle-tier batsman, he will not be a lucky man, given the numbers he produced in the twenty-one innings of 12 friendly matches he played against Australia, England and New Zealand that calendar year.

Obviously, the brave right-handed, who grew up in the harsh Mumbai cricket environment, has reached a rough patch that may lead national voters to ponder options for the second Test against New Zealand to be played at Wankhede Stadium next Friday .

Rahane has led India in six friendlies, won four, drew two and was Virat Kohli's deputy for a reasonable period of time. How the captain who will be Kohli for the Mumbai Test and coach Rahul Dravid deal with the delicate situation will be an interesting event. Confident that Rahane would come out well, Dravid said some good words about him at the end of the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur.

By well into his 34th year, Rahane showed signs of losing control of himself as a thug. Eight times this year he did not get over the single-digit number of points. His best results were 37 in Brisbane, 67 against England at Chepauk, 49 against New Zealand at the World Test Championship in Southampton, 61 against England at Lord's and 35 against New Zealand in the recently completed first test at Green Park, Kanpur. Those stats give him an impressive average of 49 plus, but his overall average for the year so far is 19.57 and that could hurt his chances of the national selections remaining loyal to him.

Despite all the negative news about his inability to get going with the red ball he was playing, Rahane had the cockles of many hearts warmed with a grand 112 in the first innings of the Melbourne Test with a grand 112 shortly after scoring 36 inches knocked out the second innings of the First Test in Adelaide last December.

Indeed, Rahane won praise from the experts as captain, but the inconsistency with the bat haunted him after his brilliant job in Melbourne.

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Rahane has played 79 Tests, scored 4,795 runs at twelve centuries and 24 half centuries, and averaged a fraction less than 40. He has shown an iron determination to beat in 5th place but after being an integral part of India's middle order in 2013 he struggles to find ways to hit the ball smoothly and get substance into the center. With Kohli, K.L. Rahul and Rohit Sharma to be part of the three series of tests in South Africa and the following series of tests at home against Sri Lanka, the chances are the selectors are seriously looking at the basket of medium-range options. They already have one in Shreyas Iyer after his great debut in Kanpur; the Mumbai batter scored a century and a half.

Pandit also said that Rahane needs to take a call. “We saw Rahane play well and get good runs. And we've seen its shape in the recent past as well. Rahane should take a call that would be wise for him. His mind will tell him this, the decision he has to make. It is up to him whether he takes a break, scores runs in domestic cricket and comes back. "

While Kohli and previous coach Ravi Shastri encouraged Rahane to appreciate the good and stoic punches he played, Dravid - who saw Rahane closely as part of the IPL team Rajasthan Royals - can still view Rahane a few months in advance to give his opinion . Rahane has not played a test at his home stadium which is Wankhede at Chyrchgate. It is more likely that Kohli and Dravid will do him this honor.