The decline of Ajinkya Rahane: A story in numbers
There was always a buzz around the arrival of Ajinkya Rahane. The technique, the solidity, the grit: he seemed to personify everything typical about a Mumbaikar.
Alongside Cheteswar Pujara and Murali Vijay, Rahane seemed like a Test star for the future. However, he has somewhat turned into a rabbit in the overseas race: he fired big at the start of his career and has now started to slumber, allowing the tortoises to overtake him.
Pujara has found a way to overcome his woes. Vijay is still hanging around. But the performances of Rahane, the vice-captain, do not match up to what everyone believes he is capable of.
It's not that he is not performing either. 70 against Australia in the Adelaide Test, 80 against the Windies at Hyderabad, 81 against England at Nottingham. Yet there is something stopping him from reaching that overseas hundred for a long time.
A look at his overseas averages will tell you a sad story. His overseas batting prowess has been steadily declining, thus robbing him of the one ability he was most well-known for.
The big question is, what is it that is preventing him from converting his starts into hundreds?
Against Australia in the Adelaide Test, Rahane got out reverse sweeping to Nathan Lyon. Against the Windies, he jabbed one straight to gully. At Nottingham, he drove one loosely outside off and nicked to first slip.
There seems to be a temperament issue in Rahane's case. It could be overconfidence too.
These lapses in concentration seem to be very uncharacteristic to the old Rahane, whose last overseas century (188) came against New Zealand in 2016. It seems as if the right-hander is struggling to switch between an attacking and defensive approach, presumably in a bid to return to the ODI setup.
Rahane received heavy criticism for his slow run rate and inability to rotate the strike in the shorter formats, which was the cause of his axing from the ODI setup. The added pressure from the limited overs omission, along with his Test omission in South Africa earlier this year, seems to be having a massive effect on his concentration and temperament.
What remains to be seen is whether Rahane wakes up and overtakes the tortoises, or keeps sleeping like the lazy rabbit under the shadows of a tree, wasting all his admirable talent and potential.