Ajinkya Rahane’s successful return to the Indian team during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia was praised by former India batter Wasim Jaffer. Jaffer commended the former vice captain for performing admirably under duress.
Rahane returned to the Test team for the WTC championship after an outstanding IPL 2023 season in which he batted with an unusually aggressive attitude. One of India’s few bright spots in a disappointing WTC final was the 35-year-old’s batting performance.
With a defiant 89 in the first innings, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman led India in scoring. Even though India lost the second essay without much of a struggle, he contributed with 46.
Jaffer told that Rahane had made an impressive comeback to the Test team.
India was under pressure in both innings when he walked out to bat, but he handled it well in both innings of batting and both innings of playing under pressure.
India was attempting to chase a high total in both the first and second innings. He’s proven he can take the strain.
“Ajinkya Rahane is a different player when he plays attacking, upbeat cricket. Jaffer continued, “I just hope he plays and maintains consistency moving forward.”
India was in trouble at 71/4 after Australia scored 469 in their first innings. With Ravindra Jadeja (48) and Shardul Thakur (109), Rahane added 71 runs for the fifth wicket.
India had dropped three wickets for 93 runs in the second essay as well, falling short of their enormous target of 444. Virat Kohli (49) and Rahane (46) added 86 runs for the fourth wicket. India, however, shattered to a 234 all-out collapse once the partnership was broken.
‘At least four were left-handers in Australia’s top eight,’ said Jaffer of Ashwin’s exclusion.
Jaffer agreed with many others in saying that India erred by leaving veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin out of the starting XI. The 45-year-old noted the large number of left-handers in the opposition camp and said:
“There was much discussion regarding Ashwin’s place in the India team that was used. Likewise, I experienced it. I believe at least four of Australia’s top eight players were left-handers.”
“In terms of Test bowling, he is ranked first in the world. Recently, we had defeated Australia at home, and Ashwin had excelled during that series.
India’s bowling performance was poor. India played poor batting. We didn’t score enough runs in either inning, he said.”
Nathan Lyon of Australia excelled with five wickets, including four in the second innings, while Ashwin was dropped from India’s playing XI.
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