Though the Indian batsmen failed to handle the short balls during the last tour in New Zealand, the Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is still confident enough about the team.
The Indian team’s dominant runs in Test cricket has recently been hampered by the hosts New Zealand. Before that tour, the no.1-ranked Test team India were dominating in Test cricket. In the 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship, India not only won all their first three Test series but also won all the matches of those series (a total of seven Tests).
But, in the two-match Test series in New Zealand, India suffered defeats in both the Test matches. While many were raising questions on the batting strategies of the Indian players against the short balls during that tour, Ajinkya Rahane reminded them of their success during the 2018 Melbourne Test.
Rahane recently said, “People are speaking too much about it (short balls). If you see Melbourne innings, we have dominated. We all play short-balls well, one game doesn’t make you bad players of short ball.”
We have to stay focussed and positive: Ajinkya Rahane
Talking about their batting failure in the recent New Zealand tour, Rahane pointed out the breeze factor in New Zealand. However, the Test vice-captain is looking forward for the Australia tour where they will play the four-match Test series after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2020.
He claimed, “They (NZ bowlers) used the breeze factor very well because in New Zealand it was biggest factor, cutting the angle and pace. We have to stay focussed and positive and the next series is in Australia and there is a long way to go, looking forward to that.
“We have really done a good job in the last three-four years. Now Test Championship has started. In this journey, you are going to win and lose some matches.”
In the Test series in New Zealand, Rahane scored 46, 29, 7 and 9 runs respectively. However, Rahane isn’t too much worried about his form. He claimed that he and his team learned a lot from the recently concluded New Zealand tour.
Rahane added, “I am not too much worried about that and I am not going too much deep in that. Test Championship is all about one match and one series at a time, one match at a time because points are involved, because one bad game or two bad games will not make us bad team.
“We learnt a lot from New Zealand series, they played well. As a team, there is some learning as batting and bowling unit.”
The no.1-ranked Test team India is still leading the 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship points table with 360 points. India have already played two home and two away Test series in this Test Championship.
Their remaining Test series in this Championship are against the hosts Australia (four-match Test series) and the visitors England (five-match Test series).