What’s the story?
Ajinkya Rahane’s personal coach Pravin Amre has credited skipper Virat Kohli for providing the Mumbaikar with the confidence to perform, despite lacking runs from his bat, saying that he was sending the right signal and when the skipper said that there was no question of axing Rahane from the team it instilled a sense of confidence in the Mumbaikar.
“See, to be honest, it is never easy to drop someone (Karun Nair) after he has scored a triple hundred. But kudos to Kohli for giving out the right signals in the dressing room. Nair had come in because Rahane was injured. So, when Kohli stood up and made it clear that there was no question of dropping Rahane, it gave the batsman a lot of confidence. Also, when you are going through a tough phase, these things matter,” Amre told cricketnext.com.
Amre added that the win in the Bengaluru Test was an important one as it would now give him and the side the confidence to sustain and carry the momentum into the third and the fourth Tests as well.
“I think that it was a very important win for the boys and I wouldn’t like to speak any further about Rahane because for him it has always been all about the team. Personal milestones don’t matter to him. And after the Pune Test, this win was very important. He is glad that he could contribute,” he said.
Extra Cover: SK Turning Point: Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane bring India back into the series
In case you didn’t know...
Rahane was coming into the Bengaluru Test on the back of a string poor performances, but despite those low scores he found constant backing from both the skipper as well the head coach Anil Kumble, who said there was no question of dropping Rahane from the playing XI.
The heart of the matter
In the four overseas trips that India made from December 2013 to March 2015, Rahane was the most consistent batsman of the unit, making hundreds in three out of the four tours where most of the other middle-order batsmen struggled.
It was expected that when the right-hander back home he would carry that consistency forward, but it has not been the case as he has struggled to play the turning ball early on home pitches.
What’s next?
The right-hander will look to carry his form from the Bengaluru Test into the Ranchi Test as well and once and for all, seal the debate about his place in the team. Rahane’s quality as a player is something few can doubt, it has always been his consistency that has been his benchmark and he will surely look to develop that in the upcoming few games as well.
Sportskeeda’s take
Many times in the past we have seen how players have responded to a captain’s faith positively and Rahane’s response is yet another addition to that list. It was a gutsy performance from the right-hander in the second innings and one that would have surely given him the confidence to go forward and do well in the remaining games as well.
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