Former chief selector Sandeep Patil threw harsh criticism towards Ajinkya Rahane for his repetitive failures which were on display on India’s last tour to New Zealand. He managed a paltry total of 91 runs at an average of 21.50.
“This happens due to fear of failure. He has led India, he’s got a tremendous overseas record, but all that’s history. Now that he’s been labelled only as a Test player, been out of India’s limited-overs team, human nature is such that one wants to establish himself as a Test specialist. He’s trying to prove a point,” Patil was quoted as saying by Times of India.
He further added, “By doing that, you try to show that ‘I’ll be technically correct. I’ll try to occupy the crease. If you want to just ‘occupy,’ you can call a security guard! Who’ll score the runs?”
India’s Test vice-captain, Rahane has been enduring a patchy phase for almost two years. He failed to get a hundred on India’s tour of South Africa and England where the Virat Kohli-led side fared relatively well.
Even during India’s successful quest of Australia in 2018-19, Rahane’s willow was unable to fetch a triple-figure score.
One of India’s most successful away batsmen, much was expected from the 31-year-old for the New Zealand tour. However, Rahane not only failed to stand up to the expectations but even got his solid defensive techniques questioned.
His dismissal in the second innings of the last Test against New Zealand had people pointing fingers at him as Neil Wagner exposed his inability to deal with short deliveries before getting him out in a bizarre manner.
Meanwhile, Sandeep Patil also blamed the team management for not handling Ajinkya Rahane perfectly and blamed it as one of the reasons for his failure.
“If Rahane isn’t understanding this, what are Ravi Shastri and the batting coach doing? If one batsman goes into a shell, the others follow, and the team suffers. Those who bat after such batsmen feel that the bowling is too good,” he said.