Ajinkya Rahane is turning the clock back in the ongoing IPL 2023. With his superlative performances for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 16th edition of the IPL, the 34-year-old veteran Indian batsman is making a strong case for his recall to the national side.
What has been jaw-dropping and what has taken everyone by surprise is his ultra-aggressive batting, one rarely seen in Ajinkya Rahane’s style. He’s scored 209 runs in 5 innings at an average of 52 with a sky-high strike rate of 199! 2 of his innings out of 5 have been of over 50 runs and 2 others have been of over 30.
There is a World Test Championship (WTC) final which India are going to play against Australia in June at the Oval. And while the format may be different, Ajinkya Rahane might perhaps force the selectors to ponder over recalling him.
Here are 2 reasons why Ajinkya Rahane could get a deserved comeback in Team India for the WTC final:
Impeccable Form
Let me be clear: I’m not championing a comeback for Ajinkya Rahane in the Test team by seeing his T20 numbers in the IPL. What I wish to spread the message is that the man is on rocket-high confidence currently. He’s simply in glorious touch; he’s seeing the ball like a football.
Had Andre Russell or Liam Livingston played a knock of 71*(29) with 6 fours and 5 sixes as Rahane did vs KKR, we would have called it chaos, or destruction, or massacre. But with Rahane, it’s all oozing class and confidence.
He’s clear in his game, has clarity of role at CSK, and his success – which came after he took place of the injured Ben Stokes – is a outcome of the clarity of role that CSK has provided him with. He isn’t slogging. He’s playing his true, technical, classy, and traditional shots, but seems to have changed is that the shackles of expectations are removed. ‘Go out there and play with immense freedom’ – something along the lines of this would have been the message from MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming to Rahane.
Ajinkya Rahane could be the X-factor in the middle-order of the Test team
Regarding what to expect in the WTC final, pace-friendly conditions are expected at the start of the English summer with the Dukes ball talking big time. And playing against the Aussie fast bowlers, India could think of banking on Ajinkya Rahane’s experience as Shreyas Iyer is ruled out from the WTC final.
What Rahane has shown in the IPL is that he can bat at a rate opposite to the traditional manner. Since the WTC final – like the one in 2021 – could well be another low-scoring game, some quick runs from a middle-order batsman, after the Dukes ball has gotten softer, could prove to be really crucial. A quick-fire cameo of 40 runs even could be decisive and can turn the tables back on the bowlers and shift the momentum in a low-scoring Test under pace-friendly conditions.
After all, India did try Suryakumar Yadav in the first Test match against Australia based on his form, his touch and his confidence in T20 cricket. So, why Rahane too, who also has loads of experience of the English conditions and the Australian bowlers.
