Rahane back after IPL heroics
The batter makes a comeback into the India WTC final squad on back of a brilliant run in league
After 15 months in the wilderness, Ajinkya Rahane has made a return to the India Test squad for the high-profile World Test Championship final against Australia on the back of his impressive showing in the Indian Premier League. The final will be played from June 7 to 11 at The Oval in London. In a bid to make a comeback, the middle-order batter played the whole domestic season for Mumbai scoring 634 runs at an average of 57.63 in the Ranji Trophy with two hundreds including a top score of 204. There were signs that his touch was coming back but he was nowhere close to an India recall when he played the final Mumbai Ranji game against Maharashtra at the Brabourne Stadium, in January. In attendance were two selectors, Salil Ankola and Subroto Banerjee, however, there wasn’t anything noteworthy in his knocks of 14 and 35. Then, something clicked at the Chennai Super Kings camp ahead of IPL. He came into the T20 league a transformed batter, a player who is taking apart bowlers with silken strokes. He has a tally of 209 runs in five matches. It’s not the number of runs but the rhythm of his batting that has made him the talk of the T20 league. Comebacks are not easy. Everything has to fall in place. The back injury to Shreyas Iyer and his timely return to eye-catching form has opened the door for Rahane’s return for the all-important game against Australia. The selectors would have also considered his proven record in crucial games overseas and his vast experience. He has the ability to soak up the pressure and raise his game in challenging conditions, as he did at Lord’s in 2014 (104 runs), at The Wanderers (48, highest score in a total of 247) and at the MCG in 2020 (147 runs). “It is a good move because Ajinkya is an experienced player and in great form at the moment. He toured England a few times and has done extremely well there. Because we are playing only one game, the WTC final, there is not much time to acclimatise so you need people who can adapt quickly. Rahane has been there so it is always better to have experienced guys,” said former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar. Rahane was dropped after the 2-1 series defeat against South Africa at the start of 2022, for his inability to convert starts. So what has changed now? The former chairman of selectors, who was in attendance at Lord’s when Rahane got the match-winning hundred in 2014, felt his hand-eye co-ordination and footwork is better. “If you score runs, you look more confident, your hand and eye coordination, footwork become better.” MSK Prasad, in whose tenure as selection committee chief Rahane played the bulk of his cricket, said: “With the kind of uncertainty we have in the middle order it is always good to have someone like Rahane, because he is a proven customer in away conditions. He is in very good touch now. At the end of the day he played all the domestic matches last year and he did reasonably well also.” Pravin Amre, who has coached Rahane at regular intervals, saw the irony in the fact that he started his international cricket in a T20 game, against England in 2011, and has made a comeback on the strength of his runs in the T20 league. “We just reminded him how he came into the international arena through T20 (39-ball 61 at Old Trafford, in August 2011). It’s a coincidence that his T20 performance has helped him make a comeback. We are seeing the new version of Ajinkya, people are really surprised the way he is hitting the ball so long while playing proper cricketing shots,” said Amre. Apart from the calming influence of MS Dhoni, he has benefitted from his association with batting coach Mike Hussey. For Rahane, the key to batting is having clarity of thought. It comes when your game is in good space. The perfection in the execution of his strokes stands out. It is helping him clear the fence effortlessly. A strike rate of 199 is proof. “His game is built on timing and he has got it back,” says Amre. “Even Dhoni has spoken about his technique. People wrongly say that technique is not important in T20s. I am very happy because as coaches we always insisted on technique, it really matters in T20.” Former India keeper and chairman of selectors Kiran More analysed the difference being Rahane’s improved bat speed. “He is trusting his shots, he has been given a free hand and his bat speed has improved a lot,” said More while comparing Rahane’s grit to Mohinder Amarnath’s. “Rahane reminds me of Mohinder Amarnath. He made a lot of comebacks in his cricketing career. Rahane was not part of the India team, but he kept on playing county cricket, domestic cricket that shows the determination. Mentally he is so strong. Rahane is the same, the phase always comes in life when you don’t do well, but how you make a comeback makes you a great cricketer.”