Ajinkya Rahane’s exclusion from the T20I squad for the three-match series against the Australian side did not go well with the cricketing fans and the critics. The selection committee headed by MSK Prasad was lashed out for not picking an in-form Rahane.
However, Rahane’s personal coach and former India cricketer Pravin Amre while giving an exclusive interview with CricketNext didn’t look at all disappointed and was quite optimistic to see the turn of events positively.
Former legend Sunil Gavaskar has been quite vocal about the exclusion despite scoring four half-centuries in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia. Gavaskar slammed the selection committee and the team management terming this selection as ‘not understandable’.
Amre while talking expressed a lot of belief in Rahane’s skill and potential. He said, “Ajinkya is a like a soldier who is waiting to serve the country whenever picked. Also, I think he has matured a lot as a player and his statement after the announcement of the squad for the T20I series against Australia shows that he is not insecure of his position in the team.”
“While I am not someone who is in a position to say if it is the right or wrong call by the selectors, what I can say is that he is already preparing for the upcoming series against New Zealand and will look to better the performance he put up against the Aussies,” Amre was quoted saying.
Amre made it clear that he is not at all bothered by this exclusion as he mentioned that the ultimate goal is the 2019 World Cup in England and keeping in mind the form he has in overseas condition, Rahane will be an obvious choice in the squad.
“When you have someone of Gavaskar’s stature batting for you, it only helps motivate you further. Rahane did all the right things by scoring four fifties and putting on 100-run partnerships with Rohit Sharma at the top of the innings. And we are already looking at improving further and such support from a legend can only boost Rahane’s confidence further,” he concluded thanking Gavaskar for his support on this issue.
