"You'll have to back him in the future too" - Ashish Nehra on Ajinkya Rahane after 1st India vs South Africa Test
Ashish Nehra feels India will back Ajinkya Rahane for the second Test against South Africa despite him not doing anything outstanding in the first game.
Rahane, whose spot has been under the crosshairs since his sacking from the vice-captaincy, showed glimpses of vintage form with scores of 48 and 20 in Centurion. He batted proactively and looked comfortable at the crease, but the almost year-long issue of not converting starts and finding ways to get out remained the same.
Nehra, while speaking to Cricbuzz, said while he didn't expect Rahane to get picked for the first Test, he will almost certainly get picked for the second. The former left-arm pacer reasoned that when a team does well, as India did with the 113-run win, senior players like Rahane tend to get backed.
Nehra said:
"I was surprised that Ajinkya Rahane played in the Test. But now that you have backed the senior player, which is also good to see, he scored 20-25 runs in the second innings too, so now you'll have to back him in the future too. And when the team is doing well, then every player has a better chance to be backed, especially senior players. All three of them (Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli) fully understand that they need to score more runs. Because when you have played so many Tests, I don't think anyone needs to tell you to score runs."
Great to start off the series on a positive note. 🙌🏽 https://t.co/7Be03Zj1jb
On Kohli, Nehra admitted the skipper had a similar issue of getting out after being well-set at the crease. But the former pacer added that like with Rahane, fans can only hope that he rectifies his issues outside the off-stump and comes back stronger.
Nehra added:
"You can only wait and hope that they score runs because it's not like they are not being able to touch the ball or get set at the crease. Take Virat Kohli's case - the only issue is he's getting out after being well set in 20s, 30s or 40s and in the same way. But the way he's getting out, he has scored a lot of runs from the same place too... Virat Kohli will himself want [to rectify that]. There's a batting coach and Rahul Dravid too. There can't be anything better than that. As a fan, you can just hope that these three players get out of this lean patch as soon as possible."
The struggles of the three senior players over the last year have been well-documented. At the moment, Kohli being the captain will certainly continue for the next two Tests and Rahane's improved footwork might allow him the same luxury too. The most pressure could be on Pujara, who only managed scores of 0 and 16 in Centurion.
"KL Rahul as an opener is at par with Rohit Sharma" - Ashish Nehra
🗣️🗣️ "2021 has been a special year for us."
Vice-captain @klrahul11 sums up 2021 for #TeamIndia and speaks about the historic win at Centurion👍
#SAvIND https://t.co/B9glXK36Xe
Nehra also lauded the Player of the Match in the Test, KL Rahul, who laid the platform for the win with his 123-run knock in the first innings. The former cricketer said while Rahul is now at par with Rohit Sharma, he is ahead of Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal as an opener.
Nehra signed off by saying:
"South African bowlers will be disappointed with their bowling on Day 1 but you'll still have to give all credit to KL Rahul... Whatever he thought his mistakes were, he has learned from them and is now converting it to performance. Whenever you talk about talent and skill, for me, KL Rahul as an opener is at par with Rohit Sharma. Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill have also done well but on pure talent and class, I always keep KL Rahul a bit ahead of them."
The second match of the three-Test series will kickstart on January 3 at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg.