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Former India opener Aakash Chopra suddenly slammed Virat Kohli's rank-turner philosophy while explaining Ajinkya Rahane's batting style. Rahane announced his retirement from international cricket on Thursday, July 30.
A day after Rahane's retirement, on the morning of July 31, Chopra shared a video on his YouTube channel, 'Aakash Chopra'. Chopra started the video by saying that Rahane was among those cricketers whose contributions in Indian cricket were beyond numbers and batting stats.
Aakash Chopra explains the art of batting of Ajinkya Rahane
The purpose of the video was to explain the batter's style of playing and how he helped the India National Cricket Team to grow. As the subject of discussion was Rahane, Virat Kohli had to be there. Rahane played the most Test matches under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.
From 2014 to 2022, during the eight-year time span, the versatile batter participated in 63 Test matches, when Virat was the captain of India's Test team.
Interestingly, Rahane's batting stats in overseas conditions were stronger than his batting stats in home conditions. The Mumbai-born registered a batting average of 39.43 in 90 away innings. In India, his batting average was slightly lower, 35.73 in 50 innings.
Why Ajinkya Rahane's overseas batting stats were better than his batting stats at home
Normally, batting stats in home conditions stay higher than in overseas conditions. Rahane's numbers suggest he used to be a different type of batter. In the YouTube video, Aakash Chopra mentioned that Ajinkya Rahane performed his best when the ball came nicely on the bat. In overseas conditions, mostly in the SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, Australia) countries, pacers get extra pace and bounce.
Most of the batters from the subcontinent might have faced trouble facing pacers in those conditions. Chopra observed that Rahane performed well on seaming tracks rather than spinning tracks. Chopra reckoned that Rahane was a touch player who loved to use the pace and bounce of the ball with a gentle touch, unlike the power hitters, who use their muscle strength to hit the ball hard.
Aakash Chopra claims India mostly used to play spin-friendly surfaces when Virat Kohli was the captain
The cricketer-turned-commentator also pointed out that during a large part of Virat's captaincy, the Indian cricket team mostly played on spin-friendly wickets, which were not favourable for Ajinkya Rahane's batting style.
"He was never a power player. He was always a touch player. In Indian conditions, where the ball gets old, aggressive hitters were required. These were not those types of players, so that did not suit them. For a long time, during Virat's captaincy, we were playing on pitches where runs were not scored easily," Aakash Chopra opined.
"We were just producing rank turners after rank turners, so that was of no benefit. His game... did not suit those conditions; seaming, swinging ball coming onto the bat... that is what Ajinkya Rahane is, or rather, that brought out the best in Ajinkya Rahane," Chopra continued.
