Legendary batsman and current Indian head coach Rahul Dravid has finally broken his silence on the poor performances of Ajinkya Rahane and has not so surprisingly, come out in support of the experienced batter. It has been a long time since Rahane has been under criticism for his poor form. He has been out of touch since the start of this year and has failed again and again to contribute with the bat.
Recently, as Rahane led the Indian cricket team in the absence of the regular Indian skipper Virat Kohli, the Mumbai-based batsman failed to perform with the bat when the team needed the most. He only managed to score 35 runs in his first innings while he was dismissed quickly in his second innings for just 4 runs to his name.
His poor performances have raised a lot of eyebrows on his place in the playing xi of the team. On the other hand, Indian middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer scored a century and backed it up with a fifty on Test debut, has impressed one and all with his performances. Hence, there are many who feel that Rahane should be benched in the next Test match, which will also mark the return of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli to the team.
Meanwhile, the Indian head coach, Rahul Dravid has come out in support of the struggling cricketer. Dravid also asserted that he would like to see the regular vice-captain scoring more runs. He said:
“I mean you don’t get worried. Of course, you would like more runs from Ajinkya, he would like to score more runs. He is a quality player and he has done well for India in the past. He is one of those guys who has quality and experience and its matter of a game when he would like to turn it around, and he knows that, and we know that,”
He added:
“We haven’t decided what will be our playing XI (for the second Test) and it’s too early. At least, today our focus was on this game and when we go to Mumbai, we will assess the conditions and check people’s fitness. Virat Kohli will join us so we have to discuss with him also and then take a decision,”
Talking about the ongoing 2-match Test series, the first Test match against New Zealand ended up in a draw and the second and the last Test will be the deciding clash.
