After white-washing the New Zealand cricket team in the 3-match T20I series, the Men in Blue are all set to lock their horns with the kiwis in the 2-match Test series. Ajinkya Rahane will be seen leading the Indian team in the 1st Test match, in the absence of Virat Kohli who has been rested for the match.
However, it has been a long time since Rahane has been receiving criticism for his poor form. In fact, several pundits and experts have even questioned his place in the playing XI.
Rahane, who played a stunning knock of 112 runs on the Boxing Day Test against Australia, has only scored two half-centuries in 19 innings, ever since then. The numbers clearly reflect Rahane struggles with the bat.
Now before going into this series, India’s standby captain Ajinkya Rahane has opened up about the criticism that he has been receiving about his poor form. Ahead of the first Test match against New Zealand, during a press conference, Rahane was asked questions related to his poor form.
However, Rahane was not amused with these questions, as he insisted that concerns about his form are unfounded and contribution doesn’t mean one has to score centuries in every game. He said:
“Not concerned about my form. My job is to contribute as much as possible for my team. Contribution doesn’t mean that you need to score 100 in each game. Scores of 30, 40, 50 per innings are also important contributions,”
There’s no denying the fact that a poor show in Kanpur can lead Rahane in a tricky situation as far as selection for the away South Africa series is concerned. Speaking about the future, Rahane said:
“I am not too much bothered about what’s going to happen in future. Whatever has to happen in future will happen and I have to stay in the moment, to give my best in that particular moment.”
He added:
“When I am batting, only batting is my focus and staying in the moment. It’s as simple as that. When we are fielding, I am thinking about what sort of gameplans and strategies we have.”
?️ ?️ This team is all about backing everyone & playing for one another. ? ?
Ahead of the first @Paytm #INDvNZ Test, #TeamIndia captain @ajinkyarahane88 had this to say. pic.twitter.com/IBxSQGiMMv
— BCCI (@BCCI) November 24, 2021
Meanwhile, Rahane seems to have found his lost rhythm as he recently scored four 50s in five matches for Mumbai in the just-concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy.
