When Ajinkya Rahane made his debut in the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, many saw the potential in him even though he failed to perform well enough to sanction a place in the side. His first Test hundred came at the Basin Reserve in New Zealand, showcasing the fact that he possesses the skills necessary to thrive in foreign conditions.
Before making his international debut, Rahane had recorded a large number of domestic runs. As a result, a lot was expected of him. He responded in kind with two more centuries at Lord’s and Melbourne. When most batsmen struggled to score a single hundred away from home, Ajinkya Rahane had waltzed his way to three of them.
Despite averaging 55 in overseas Tests, Rahane was sidelined in the first two matches during the 2018 tour of South Africa. His inconsistency and inability to convert starts into big scores proved to be a cause of concern for the team management. In the year 2018, Rahane managed to score 644 runs at an average of 30.67, with no centuries to his name.
Playing at No.5 has always been an important role. Rahane’s performances were compared to what VVS Laxman produced for India at the same position, and owing to consistent failures to reciprocate his yesteryear form, his chances in the side started to dwindle.
Of late, however, Rahane has been a consistent part of the side and is fiercely backed by the coach and captain of the team. Does he warrant a place in the side: Considering he has scored just 3 centuries in the last 3 years, the answer is arguably no.
That’s not to say that he hasn’t had any impactful innings in recent times, the Melbourne century that began India’s turn-around in 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy comes to mind. However, Rahane has become what Sanju Samson is in the IPL, a man who has a couple of excellent innings in the season but goes missing for the rest of the time. In a high-paced chopping-changing style of leadership under Kohli, so many failures would probably mean curtains for the player – Mayank Agarwal has been at the receiving end of this – but not yet for Rahane.
What probably concerns people more than his inconsistency, is the manner in which he gets dismissed. Lately, he has been throwing away his wicket at crucial times, chasing deliveries very much away from the body or through poorly executed stroke-play. Even in the latest World Test Championship (WTC) final, Rahane had the opportunity to go big having seen the tough times through against the New Zealand pacers.
Reminder: It was under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane, we won the test series in Australia recently after losing the first match when Virat Kohli was the captain.#WTC2021Final pic.twitter.com/5anKM3Txoe
— Chandra (@Chandu4tweets) June 23, 2021
While on 49, he unnecessarily played a cute but ineffective pull shot that sent the Indian innings into a turmoil. At 182-5, his wicket was of the highest value but Rahane threw it away at such a crucial juncture of the match. As expected, questions were once again raised over his inclusion in the side, and with Hanuma Vihari breathing down his neck, it certainly feels like Rahane is living on borrowed time.
In the age of social media, opinions are thrown left, right and center. Especially in a country like India where cricket is basically a religion, players have nowhere to hide. Some outlooks are purely reactionary and recency bias, while others are detailed stats of the performances of Indian cricketers. After Rahane’s recent failure in the WTC Final, Twitterati raised concerns over the 33-year-old’s form.
@NotNossy @BLACKCAPS came out far better because they realised how imp it was to win this, after loosing WC final. But our @imVkohli @ImRo45 @ajinkyarahane88 were too casual and were lost in thoughts of IPL money and British Holiday for 75 days. FIRE THEM @BCCI @SGanguly99
— Ankur Kapoor (@ankur1802) June 24, 2021
https://twitter.com/akarshreddy/status/1408125859484082181?s=20
https://twitter.com/AnirudhDutt/status/1408121281065590788?s=20
