Ajinkya Rahane was a vital cog in India’s batting line up during the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. He batted at the crucial No.4 spot for India and did reasonably well. Since then Rahane hasn’t been able to cement his place in the ODI side. Popular commentator and analyst Aakash Chopra recently stated that Rahane deserves more chances in ODI cricket.
Chopra explained that even after having good numbers batting at 4, Rahane was dropped from the side. He believes that Rahane hasn’t done anything wrong with the limited chances he has got in ODI cricket. The former cricketer pointed out that Rahane was removed from the team just like a fly from milk.
“His numbers at No. 4 were good. And at number 4, if you are giving good performances, consistently playing well and strike rate is also around 94, then why are you not giving him more chances? He was dropped all of a sudden, just like you remove a fly from milk. Why was something like that done? I feel he was hard done”, Chopra told on his official YouTube channel.
Ajinkya Rahane deserves more chance – Aakash Chopra
Chopra further added, “If India had become like England, that they will score 350 in every match, that is the only way they will play, whether it goes their way of not. We didn’t do that.
We still play cricket in the traditional orthodox way. We still build the innings and pick a team that can score around 325, so Ajinkya Rahane would have fitted in that. So, in my opinion, it was slightly unfair to him because when he was dropped from the ODI team he was absolutely fine. So when you are not playing someone after he has done well, you are not doing the right thing”.
The one criticism the current team management of India always gets is not backing players enough. This was one of the main reasons why India wasn’t able to go all the way in the 2019 World Cup.
After Yuvraj Singh’s retirement, Ajinkya Rahane got the chance to play in the team but was never given a long rope. Same goes with Ambati Rayudu who even after averaging close to 50 wasn’t picked in the World Cup squad.
Aakash Chopra firmly believes that Ajinkya Rahane should get more opportunities in ODI cricket. During his last overseas tour in ODI cricket, he helped India win matches in South Africa in 2018. But surprisingly he wasn’t picked in the squad after that. Meanwhile, now it will be difficult for him to find a place in the squad due to the emergence of Shreyas Iyer.
“In fact when he played in South Africa, there also he did well. I remember that it was in 2018. He should get an opportunity again,” Chopra concluded.
