Ajinkya Rahane: A victim of poor team management?
"In a fraternity full of impatient hitters, be a patient but consistent batsman."
This is a quote I came up with randomly after looking at the batsmen nowadays.
Let's face it - there are hardly any technical and elegant batsmen these days.
Don't believe me? Check out the current crop of batsmen playing Test matches. They treat it like a T20 game (read: Pant & Rahul). It's as if they're brainwashed to keep hitting sixes. The result? Well, despite a good number of opportunities, their selection in the playing XI is being questioned. And why not? I mean, what sense does it make that KL Rahul keeps getting sufficient opportunities, but a Test veteran like Murali Vijay is dropped out of the squad for few bad innings?
Another such example is Ajinkya Rahane. A batsman often compared to Rahul Dravid, due to his technical, elegant and patient way of batting.
Unfortunately, his skills are hardly ever used by the team, for no fault of his own. Constantly changing his batting position and excluding him from a series despite some brilliant knocks are just some examples of the management not being fair to Rahane.
Take the example of India's tour of South Africa in early 2018. Rahane was dropped for the first two Test matches. India lost both the matches. Could Rahane's inclusion guarantee a win in both the matches? Probably not. Could it have significantly improved India's chances of winning? Definitely!
A year earlier, in 2017, he was the Man of the Tournament during India's Tour of West Indies, scoring consistently throughout. But then, he was on the bench throughout during the Sri Lankan Tour!
For a player with such technical skills and the ability to be consistent, it's a sin to not provide Rahane with the chance to be consistent in the squad. Not to forget, his excellent captaincy skills were on display during the Dharamsala Test vs Australia as well as in the IPL for Rajasthan Royals. He is a man who plays the role of Kohli's deputy with grace and can don the skipper's hat if need be with brilliance. Even Kohli has mentioned many times that Rahane is a vital part of the Test squad.
Modern T20 batsmen treat Test and ODI matches as a sprint race. Rahane treats them like a marathon, exactly the way they should be treated.
While not the best T20 player out there, there's no denying that he's a valuable addition to the ODI and Test squad.
Since last few months, he's not been in his best form and no one can deny that. It happens to the best ones out there.
He's got a good number of opportunities to prove himself again, but that has come with some poor management decisions like dropping him abruptly and not defining his role clearly. That definitely doesn't help any player's morale.
India had the four tigers few years ago, who revolutionised the batting side of Indian Cricket - The unstoppable Tendulkar, the calm and composed Dravid, the partnership-builder Laxman, and the fierce Ganguly.
India can definitely replicate them, with Kohli resembling Tendulkar, Rahane resembling Dravid, Pujara resembling Laxman, and Shaw/Vihari resembling Ganguly.
In the world full of batsmen of T20 mindset, we need our own calm, composed and elegant Dravid. Rahane is the answer.
It's time the Indian Selectors recognise the value Rahane brings to the table (or pitch?) and back him consistently. Lowering his form and confidence by playing around with his position and role will result in India losing an expert batsman for no good reason.