Rahul Dravid wants Ajinkya Rahane to bat at No.5
Former Indian captain and current India 'A' team coach, Rahul Dravid thinks that Ajinkya Rahane should bat at the number 5 position because of his stability to hold on with the tail batsmen, reports ESPNcricinfo. Dravid said Rahane can perform the best at that position according to him.
"I think Rahane would be a very good No. 4 and No.5 batsman in Test. I am not saying he won’t be a good No.3 because he batted there, but the success he had at No.5, his ability to bat with the tail and the range of shorts he has, makes him a very good No.5, also his ability to play the second new ball," Dravid said. "Obviously he is required to bat at whatever position his team needs. But for me No. 5 is the position where he will probably do best in Tests.”
Dravid praised Rahane during former cricketer Aakash Chopra's book launch event where he was part of a panel discussion along with Rahane. he praised the 27-year-old Mumbaikar for his consistent performance in away matches.
"Rahane has worked really hard to get into the Indian team like me. If you look at his overseas record, you will see he has done well and scored century in every overseas tour including 98 in Bangladesh. He will grow up to be a great successful cricketer," the former captain said.
Virat Kohli-led team India to a historic Test series victory in Sri Lankan soil recently. The legendary player heaped praise on Kohli saying the young captain constantly looks to improve and that is one good quality about him.
"The thing I noticed about Kohli is that he constantly looks to improve and wants to do better with every time. In cricket, you are constantly questioned and Kohli has answered those well," he said.
The 42-year-old, who has scored more than 24,000 runs in his brilliant career, said footwork remain an imporatnt part for a batsman to achieve great heights. But he also added that as long as one is scoring runs, footwork doesn't matter. He gave Virender Sehwag and Shivnarine Chanderpaul as the example to explain.
"Footwork will remain an important part, but as long as one is scoring runs, it won’t matter. For example Chanderpaul, Sehwag. You cannot question them. But without footwork one has to be Sehwag to survive and not all can be Sehwag," Dravid concluded.