Team India Selectors decided to overlook Ajinkya Rahane for the T20I series against Australia despite the opener looking in sublime form during the recently concluded ODI series which the Men in Blue won by a 4-1 margin. The decision didn’t go down well with his fans and former Indian cricketers. During an exclusive interview with CricNext, Rahane’s coach Pravin Amre spoke about his exclusion from the squad despite a good run in the ODI series.
He sounded diplomatic at his answer when asked about the selector’s decision to overlook him and said Rahane was like a soldier who is willing to serve the country whenever provided with the opportunity. He also lauded Rahane for the maturity he showed with his statement following his exclusion and even praised him for his efforts in the ODI series where he struck four consecutive half-centuries.
“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 said.
“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 added.
Very recently it was former legend Sunil Gavaskar who lashed out at the selectors for the exclusion of Rahane from the T20I squad and demanded an explanation for the selection of KL Rahul over Rahane especially when Rahul hadn’t played a single match in the ODI series.
“Rahane’s omission is not understandable. He just scored four consecutive fifties (in the ODI series) – why is he not in the (T20I) team? Now, KL Rahul is a fine batsman. But he did not play a single game in the five one-dayers. So why is he in the (T20I) team and not Rahane who scored four half-centuries. Some reason has to be given by the selection committee to say that Rahul is such a better player than Rahane in the one-day game, in the T20 format,” Gavaskar said.