Ajinka Rahane Still Perplexed About Getting ‘Dropped Suddenly’ from India ODI set-up

Ajinkya Rahane was one of the most established players in the Indian cricket team from the period of 2014 to 2018. In Tests and ODIs, Ajinkya Rahane was India’s Mr. Dependable whether he was opening or in the middle order. In ODIs, from that period, he was consistently averaging over 35. His best years were 2015 and 2017 in which he scored over 500 runs and averaged 40-plus. In 2017, he averaged 48.83 with a strike-rate of close to 80. As captain, he did not lose a single match although the opponents were Zimbabwe in 2015.

The ODI form then translated into Test success in that five-year period. From 2014 to 2018, Rahane hit a total of nine Test centuries with superb knocks in England, Australia, the West Indies, and New Zealand. However, all of a sudden, he was dropped from the India team in 2018. That saw his Test form dip. Barring 2019 in which he averaged 71, in the last two years, his averages have been 20 and 17.

Read – Someone else took credit: Ajinkya Rahane on Australia Test series success

Speaking about his recent form, Ajinkya Rahane said he was perplexed that he was suddenly dropped from the ODI team. “Before that (February 2018), I was playing ODI cricket continuously for Team India and I was doing really well. Suddenly, I got dropped, I don’t want to go into that, I don’t want to go into my past but the reality is I was playing well in 2014, 15, 16, and 17. ODI and Test cricket both were going really well. After that I hardly got game time, there was a huge gap between Test matches,” Rahane told in interaction with Boria Majumdar’s show Backstage with Boria.

Ajinkya Rahane on how ODI dropping saw a dip in form

Rahane last played an ODI when India thrashed South Africa 5-1 in the six-match series in 2018. With India gaining tremendous success on the field in limited-overs and Test cricket, Rahane’s exclusion raised plenty of eyebrows. At that time, India was also battling with a problem of plenty. With Rahane not performing in the Test match arena for the last two years, the pressure has built upon the selectors to drop Rahane. In the upcoming Ranji Trophy season, he is going to play under Prithvi Shaw for Mumbai.

“Sometimes, the reality is, when you play only one format and especially in the last 2-3 years where there is no Ranji cricket and no other domestic games, I think that needs to be taken into account because you can’t score runs sitting at home. No matter how much you practice or have net sessions, the confidence will not be gained with that. Confidence comes with game time and scoring runs in matches,” Rahane stated.

With the Sri Lanka Tests coming up in March, it remains to be seen whether Ajinkya Rahane will be selected in the squad along with Cheteshwar Pujara. If they are not selected, then the road back for Ajinkya Rahane in the Indian team might become difficult.