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Should Ajinkya Rahane be picked in India’s playing XI for the WTC final?
After India’s 20-member squad for the forthcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final has been announced several discussions are taking place all around. Regarding the exclusion of Prithvi Shaw who was in tremendous form in the domestic season as well as in the suspended Indian Premier League (IPL) this year as well as the omission of Hardik Pandya and on the other hand inclusion of Abhimanyu Eswaran-these have been the center of point in the discussions going on.
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Similarly, another question that has not come up to that extent lies there. Should Ajinkya Rahane be picked in India’s playing XI for the WTC final? The Mumbai batsman is the vice-captain of the team and he also has experience of participating in 73 Tests so far. Still, Rahane’s recent form in Test cricket can generate true anxiety for the captain Virat Kohli and Team India.
In the discussion on Should Ajinkya Rahane be picked in India’s playing XI for the WTC final? One statistic is coming up. That is Ajinkya Rhane’s struggling form with the willow this year. The statistics are showing that Rahane, having played in 10 innings so far this year, has scored only 199 runs at an unimpressive average of 19.90 including one half-century only. He got out below 30 in the eight innings out of 10 innings he played. Even the vice-captain has not been able to score double figures in four out of his 10 innings so far this year.
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Additionally, another interesting fact is that Rahane’s struggling form on English soil. Having played in 20 innings so far Rahane has been able to score only 556 runs at an ordinary average of 29.26 as he has recorded only one century and four half-centuries. Even before exploring his statistics on English soil Should Ajinkya Rahane be picked in India’s playing XI for the WTC final? The discussion will show that Rahane was able to manage only 257 runs in the 10 innings he played in England in 2018 at a mere average of 25.70 where his top score was 81, scored on 18th August in 2018. This apart he got out seven times with a score below 30.
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So, considering his poor form against England on English soil and the stressed performance in 2021 Rahane does not deserve a place in the playing eleven in the WTC final against New Zealand as both the teams will be fielding their respective best eleven players to clinch the inaugural WTC title and. But at the same time, Rahane’s experience and grit, especially in Test as it was seen against Australia last year, should not be ignored. However, 18th June 2021 will answer whether team India think-tank is relying on Rahane’s experience and grit.
