India v Sri Lanka: Ajinkya Rahane desperately needs to score at Delhi

One of the finest batsmen that the Indian batting lineup boasts of at the moment is Ajinkya Rahane. He has been one of the batting mainstays of Indian middle-order in the longest format of the game. But in the ongoing series against Sri Lanka, his form has largely been close to his reputation. In the three innings that he has played across the two Tests, he has failed to cross the 4-run mark.

Now, the action moves to Delhi for the final Test of the series. Interestingly, this is the very same venue where he had made his Test debut in 2013 against Australia. Back then, he had failed to get into the double digits in both the innings. However, he came back strong in the 2015 Test against South Africa at the same venue to score hundreds in each innings.

Ajinkya Rahane will now hope to repeat his heroics from the 2015 game. He desperately needs to get runs under his belt. One of the coaches that he has worked with, Vidyadhar Paradkar, recently conceded that the batsman has to get his basics right and play straight. It is only a matter of one good innings before he gets back to his usual best.

“I am missing his straight drives. He should focus on playing shots in the ‘V’ initially. He will do well to spend some time on the wicket and then go for runs. In Nagpur, he tried square-cutting when the ball was far away from him,” Paradkar told mid-day recently.

“He needs one big innings and then you will see the original Ajinkya – with a lot of confidence. I am sure he will overcome this period. The Delhi track will be kind to batsmen, so let’s hope he will be back there,” Paradkar added further.

On inconsistency in ODIs

While Ajinkya Rahane has been a top player in the longest format of the game, his form in the limited overs has been largely inconsistent. When asked to reason out the potential causes for the same, the city cricket coach mentioned that the shuffling of batting positions often takes a heavy toll on a player’s mindset.

“He got inconsistent because he was asked to bat at different positions in ODIs. This shuffling in the order can affect a player’s approach and concentration,” reasoned Paradkar.