India Tour of South Africa: As things stand, the Test vice-captaincy role has been taken away from Ajinkya Rahane, however, he has find himself an another lifeline after retaining his place in the squad for the all-important South Africa tour. Follow India tour of South Africa live on InsideSports.IN.
India Tour of South Africa: MSK Prasad’s message to BCCI, ‘Play Rahane only in away conditions, use different batters at home’
Ajinkya Rahane’s appalling average of below 20 in 2021 has seen a lot of criticism and question coming his way. In 2019, the Mumbai batsman ended the year with 642 runs in 8 matches at an average of 71.33. In the following year, that dropped to 38.85 in 4 matches. Come 2021, the 33-year-old has scored 411 runs in 12 matches at a measly average of 19.57. If we dig in the stats further, the right-hander has only four centuries to his name in the last 5 years. Only two scores 20 plus have come in his last 10 innings.
The rise of youngsters like Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari has only created more pressure on the cool and calm Rahane.
Regardless of the criticism and questioning, it was almost certain that Rahane was going to be part of the all-important South Africa tour because of management’s belief in him, and also his superior record in the overall conditions.
Rahane has scored more than 3000 runs overseas at an average of 41.71, which is better than his dipping home numbers of 35.73. In the last 10 years, the right-hander has been the second-highest leading run-getter for India in SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) and West Indies, scoring 2646 runs. Only Virat Kohli (3551) has scored more runs than Rahane in the list.
Amid all the chaos regarding Ajinkya Rahane and his place in the India Test eleven, former chief of selectors MSK Prasad has a small suggestion for the selectors.
The former wicketkeeper-batsman wants selectors to figure out different set of players for home and away conditions.
Pujara and Rahane for overseas Test, Iyer and Suryakumar for home Test?
The 46-year-old reckoned that selectors are left in doldrums when it comes to Rahane as he does well in overseas conditions. Prasad also marked that an amalgamation of youngsters and seniors was a must when playing outside of Asian conditions.
“At the end of the day, it should be a mix of juniors and seniors. Even in 2013, he (Rahane) did well. Usually, Rahane performs well in overseas conditions but his record at home hasn’t been great. Taking these things into consideration, the selectors can look into players for home conditions and players for away conditions,” told IndiaToday.IN in an interview.
“Usually, Rahane is one guy who does really well in away conditions. Selectors are a bit puzzled because of his form. Whether they are going to look forward or back his experience is going to be their judgement.
“First of all, it is good to have a healthy headache for the selectors. And secondly, you need to have a system in place. How many opportunities would you be giving to a senior cricketer, when do you want to induct a youngster? How many youngsters are on a tour? These are the things you should take into consideration, there should be a good balance.
“You just can’t simply remove all the seniors, at the same time, you can’t carry on with all youngsters, especially when you are going away. At home, you can try things but when you go away experience counts a lot. That’s why they need to have a perfect blend of youth and experience,” he added.
Notably, Rahane’s home average of 35.73 is the second lowest among all the countries he has played a Test match in.
India Tour of South Africa: MSK Prasad’s message to BCCI, ‘Play Rahane only in away conditions, use different batters at home’
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