Coach Pravin Amre feels Ajinkya Rahane is "not insecure of his position in the team"

Ajinkya Rahane has consistently been handed the short end of the stick when it comes to being drafted into the national team. Recently, the selectors were lambasted by fans and critics alike for overlooking Rahane while constituting the team for the upcoming T20I series against Australia. However, the star batsman’s coach, Pravin Amre is far from being perturbed and is rather looking to take the turn of events positively.

In an interview, Amre spoke extensively about Rahane’s exclusion from the team in spite of having scored 4 half-centuries in the ODI series against Australia. Former cricketing legend, Sunil Gavaskar has been extremely vocal in his support for the Mumbai batsman and he’s criticised the team management as well as the selection committee for passing over Rahane, calling the decision “not understandable”. The 29-year old batsman’s coach, however, compared his ward to a soldier “waiting to the serve the country whenever picked”.

Coach Amre confident of Rahane’s potential

Expressing staunch belief in his disciple’s talent and skill, Pravin Amre said, “Ajinkya is a like a soldier who is waiting to serve the country whenever picked. Also, I think he has matured a lot as a player and his statement after the announcement of the squad for the T20I series against Australia shows that he is not insecure of his position in the team,” he was quoted by CricketNext.

“While I am not someone who is in a position to say if it is the right or wrong call by the selectors, what I can say is that he is already preparing for the upcoming series against New Zealand and will look to better the performance he put up against the Aussies,” Amre added.

Commenting on if skipper Virat Kohli has offered any words to Rahane on the selection decisions, he stated, “I am not aware of it so it would be unfair to comment. But one has to realise that this policy of backing injured players or those coming back after a break due to personal reasons has been followed by the current crop of selectors. And that is something which we are all aware of and need to take it in our stride. Even though Rahane has been ignored for the upcoming T20I series, the goal is the World Cup in England and considering his form on foreign soil, Rahane will definitely be in the scheme of things. So, as a coach, I am not at all worried about his position.”

The 49-year-old former Indian cricketer went on to thank veteran Indian batsman, Gavaskar for his support on the issue.

“When you have someone of Gavaskar’s stature batting for you, it only helps motivate you further. Rahane did all the right things by scoring four fifties and putting on 100-run partnerships with Rohit Sharma at the top of the innings. And we are already looking at improving further and such support from a legend can only boost Rahane’s confidence further,” he concluded.