IPL 2019: Sanjay Manjrekar has a word of caution for Ajinkya Rahane’s batting form

The omissions of batsman Ambati Rayudu and wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant might be the main talking points post India’s announcement of their squad for the ICC World Cup starting May 30, but for some, the failure of Ajinkya Rahane to make it is also as big. India’s Test vice-captain has not been playing in the limited-overs formats for over at least a year (he last played in an ODI in February 2018) but given the fact that the WC will be played in seaming conditions, there was a hope that the technically sound Rahane could still make it.

But Lady Luck didn’t smile on the 30-year-old Mumbai batsman. Ajinkya Rahane is leading Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 and neither he nor his team has lived up to the expectations. While the RR have lost six of their eight games so far and are in the danger of getting knocked out early, Rahane’s own batting form has been far from inspiring.

The man has accumulated 230 runs in eight outings with just one fifty and on Tuesday, his slow batting came under heavy criticism as the Royals succumbed to a 12-run defeat to Kings XI Punjab despite having a good start.

Rahane living in denial about his batting form

Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar, who now works as a commentator-cum-analyst, feels Rahane is living in denial about his batting form and said the latter could only see an improvement in his performance once he accepts that there is a problem with his batting. Manjrekar’s observation came in a tweet on Wednesday.

Here is Majrekar’s tweet

Have felt this for a while now, Ajinkya Rahane is living in denial about his batting form. Once he accepts that there is a problem with his batting, then only can the repair work begin.#RRvKXIP

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) April 16, 2019

Rahane, who has been opening this IPL, came out to bat at No.4 in the match against the Kings but failed to give the innings the much-required acceleration at the crunch moment. When half-centurion opener Rahul Tripathi departed, the RR still required 56 off 24 balls but Rahane’s 21-ball 26 failed to lead from the front and Stuart Binny’s 11-ball 33 proved to be inadequate.

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