Better equipped for No 4: Ajinkya Rahane

CENTURION: Ajinkya Rahane’s success makes you wonder if all those experiments at No 4 last year were really worth it. While there had been calls from various quarters to slot him at No 4 spot in ODIS with the openers’ slots taken, skipper Virat Kohli had insisted through last year that he would only be used as opener.

Rahane struck three fifties and a century in the five-match ODI series in the West Indies, but all those innings came as opener in the absence of Rohit Sharma. Rahane didn’t get to bat in the middle-order on the 2017 Sri Lanka ODI series either. At the Augusta Golf Club, they have a saying: “Sunday afternoon on the back nine at the Masters, the cream rises to the top.” On wickets that ranged between tricky and treacherous in South Africa, the cream -- Virat Kohli -also rose to the top.

After twin failures at Newlands, he came into his own, compiling the only century of the series at Centurion and then two worthy innings on the snake pit that masqueraded as the Wanderers cricket pitch.

Kohli went as close as anyone to conquering the treacherous Bullring pitch and he did it with a flashing blade rather than a whirling cape. Kohli achieved this meritorious feat by playing as near to his natural game as possible, picking off glorious offside drives from time to time where most others could only defend and nudge.

In a short but decisive partnership with the restored Ajinkya Rahane (who matched Kohli shot for shot), India edged ahead in a see-saw match. It’s not surprising then that having endured the seaming, spitting and steepling bounce of the Wanderers pitch, Kohli was extremely animated when the umpires decided to halt play after the courageous Dean Elgar was hit on the grille on the third evening.

Elgar is one of the braver batsmen but his technique leaves a