India v Sri Lanka: Rohit Sharma justifies the omission of Ajinkya Rahane

Team India stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma has indirectly confirmed that veteran batsman Ajinkya Rahane is likely to warm the bench in the third ODI against Sri Lanka as well. Rahane, who has been struggling with form, was excluded from the playing eleven in the Dharamsala ODI and has been ignored in the Mohali game too.

While youngster Washington Sundar made it to the Indian team, Ajinkya Rahane continued to sit out. Prior to the limited overs series, Rahane could only muster 17 runs in the five innings he played during the Test series. It was being speculated that the team management would give him some games under his belt to get him back in confidence before the South Africa series.

However, the management surprised all by preferring the likes of Shreyas Iyer ahead of him. Now, Rohit Sharma, has justified why Rahane misses out for the second consecutive game in the series. At the toss, Rohit mentioned that the team does not wish to play with his batting position in the limited overs. Hence, Rahane continues to be the backup opener in the side.

“It is quite tempting the kind of skill he (Rahane) possesses but we have decided as a management that he is our top order batsman and don’t want to shuffle with it. Not ideal to play around with anybody’s position. At the same time, it is an opportunity for youngsters to step in,” quoted Rohit Sharma at the toss.

Lessons from the past

Interestingly, this seems to be a lesson well learnt from the past. Earlier, the team had similar conundrum with KL Rahul. However, just for the sake of accommodating him in the side, the seasoned opener was tried in the middle order. He failed in the middle order and subsequently lost his place in the limited overs side as well.