"Ajinkya Rahane scores runs when the team is in a dire situation" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Ajinkya Rahane has been Team India's savior quite a few times and wants the selectors to persist with him for a little while longer.
Rahane has played a significant role in many Test wins for India, especially in overseas conditions. However, he has been going through a prolonged lean run lately and questions have been raised about his place in the team.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted the crucial knocks Ajinkya Rahane has played in his Test career thus far. He elaborated:
"There is a reason why Ajinkya Rahane is the Indian team's vice-captain. He got the consistent middle name because he used to score the crucial runs consistently, whether you see the two centuries at Melbourne, the hundred at Lord's or the 61-run knock at Lord's, you can see Johannesburg or Durban, he scores runs when the team is in a dire situation."
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that the stats are not a true reflection of Ajinkya Rahane's worth in the Indian team. Chopra observed:
"You cannot judge Ajinkya Rahane by cold numbers, you will want to judge him by his contributions. That is why this team knows Ajinkya Rahane's importance and have made him the vice-captain."
Team India have never lost a Test when Ajinkya Rahane has slammed a ton. Nine of his twelve centuries have resulted in wins, with the other three ending in a draw.
"You should definitely play Ajinkya Rahane at home" - Aakash Chopra
Aakash Chopra wants Ajinkya Rahane to play the home series against New Zealand and regain his form before the bigger battles ahead. He explained:
"You should definitely play him at home. Ajju is a player who you want to stick with. It will take a long time for someone to reach here. You need experience overseas, if you want to win Test matches one after the other, Ajinkya Rahane could be your that guy."
The former India opener signed off by stating that Rohit Sharma could take over the vice-captaincy from Ajinkya Rahane to let the latter concentrate on his batting. Chopra said:
"Maybe you want to relieve him from vice-captaincy. I think Rohit is going to get the vice-captaincy. I feel you should invest at least one more series on Ajinkya, if not two or more."
Ajinkya Rahane has scored 1605 runs at a below-par average of 36.47 in the 31 Tests he has played in India. The Mumbaikar has struggled against spin quite often, and it might just be better for India to go with either Hanuma Vihari or Shubman Gill instead of him.