There is absolutely no denying that Ajinkya Rahane will be garnering a lot of attention in the upcoming ICC World Test Championship final between India and Australia. The much-anticipated clash is scheduled to get underway on June 7 at the Oval in London.
Last month, the senior selection panel raised a number of eyebrows when they included Ajinkya Rahane in the squad for the WTC final. The reason was that the call coincided with his stunning displays in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League season.
The selectors did face criticism from several quarters for picking the former vice-captain on the basis of his IPL performance. The critics, however, ignored his performance in the last edition of the Ranji Trophy. Before impressing in the IPL, the batting star had topped the run-scoring chart for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy, scoring 634 runs at 57.63 including two centuries.
And as Ajinkya Rahane gears up for the much-awaited Test comeback, head coach Rahul Dravid has cleared the air on his selection. Expressing delight over having the former vice-captain back in the team, the India coach was all praise for the batsman’s quality. He also mentioned his fine record in overseas Tests as well as his slip catching.
“Firstly, it’s good to have him. We have had a few injuries which probably led to him having the opportunity to come back into the squad. Great for us to have someone of his quality. He brings a lot of that experience, he brings proven performance in overseas conditions, even in England, he has played some terrific innings for us.
“He brings terrific catching in the slips. He just brings his personality to the group, which is really important. He has led the team and has had considerable success. It’s just great to have someone like him around here,” Dravid said.
Rahul Dravid on Ajinkya Rahane’s future:
Many believe that Ajinkya Rahane has not recalled with a long-term plan. The batsman did earn a recall only because of an unfortunate injury to Shreyas Iyer and many believe that Rahane will have to make way for his state teammate once he recovers from the back injury. Dravid, however, quashed those speculations and said that it depends entirely on how Rahane performs.
“You don’t want him to approach this as just a one-off. Sometimes, you get dropped from teams and you make a comeback and you come back and play for as long as you are playing well and as long as your performing.
“It’s not written in stone that you only get one match. If he puts in a good performance and shows what he has got, who knows, even when people come back from injury, you never know what can happen,” Dravid concluded.
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