Ajinkya Rahane, who is presently the vice-captain of India in Test cricket, has expressed his disappointment for not being able to play at the World Cup 2019. The progressive Mumbaikar has been giving consistent performance in Test cricket as well as in the one-day game. However, Rahane still failed to add a consistent position in the coveted ‘Blue Jersey’.
The right-hander last played in the limited-overs game in 2018 against South Africa and scored unbeaten 34 runs alongside the skipper Virat Kohli. And the last T20I match he played was against West Indies in 2016 that had no result due to rain.
Rahane kept coming in and out of the team in the limited-overs game, but he gave his best shot whenever on the field. He had played at the opening of the game with Rohit Sharma, or he also had given amazing performances at the number four.
Yet MSK Prasad, the Chief of the Selection Committee and other members of the board didn’t select him for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.
Rahane: ‘There’s disappointment at missing the World Cup. It is everybody’s dream, you work hard for it’
However, talking about the missed opportunity, Rahane expressed his disappointment and represented his statistics as proof of his performance. Rahane said that he had batted at no. 4 and that he had given his best in the last two years.
“Firstly, in one-dayers, my position has always been up and down. Sometimes I have opened, and sometimes I have batted at No. 4. I don’t look at my stats that much, but when I was seeing them (recently), I have actually done very well in the last two years. In the West Indies (2016-17), I got a chance to open when Rohit (Sharma) was not there, and I got the Man-of-the-Series award (avg 67.20). When we came back to India and both (Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan) were available, I was not played,” Rahane said to Hindustan Times.
Again, when Shikhar was not available, I got to open and performed well against Australia (2017), hitting four half-centuries on the trot. When I’ve got the opportunity at No. 4, also I have done well. So, exactly pata nahin chala ki kya hua hai (Didn’t exactly know what happened). My strike rate is also very good; it has been around 88-90 in the last two years.
Talking further, Rahane said that he never had any expectations of batting at a particular number. And having batted at different positions give the Mumbai cricketer an upper hand, especially with the number 4 position still left undecided. The 31-years-old red-ball batsman, however, understands and respects the decision of the management not to include him in the World Cup squad.
“And my commitment is always there. I have never said I want any particular number. If the opening slot is available I have opened, if No. 4 is available, I have done well there. Yes, there’s disappointment at missing the World Cup. It is everybody’s dream, you work hard for it, and it is a big moment as a player. Actually, I haven’t understood why I was not in the World Cup team. Maybe the management felt this combination is the best, and after some time I respected it,” he added.
Furthermore, Ajinkya Rahane concluded that the most important thing is that he has been consistent with his performance and can play match-winning knocks. He has admitted that he is satisfied with his current game and happy with his bat and strike rate.
“I will not try to change much because the zone in which I am batting, I will try to stay in it. The starts I get in one-day cricket, how to convert them into big hundreds and how I can play match-winning knocks, that is what is most important, I don’t think technically I can change anything. If you talk about the strike rate, mine has also been good in the last two years. I don’t think I have to change much,” Rahane concluded.
Recently, in the home Test series against Bangladesh in November and South Africa who visited India in October, Rahane scored two half-centuries in the two-match Bangladesh Test series and a half-century & a hundred against the Proteas in the third match.