“Rahane Hasn’t Scored Runs But Same Is The Case With Kohli And Pujara. Why Wasn’t Their Position Altered?": Virender Sehwag

“Rahane Hasn’t Scored Runs But Same Is The Case With Kohli And Pujara. Why Wasn’t Their Position Altered?”: Virender Sehwag. Joe Root and co. faced Virat Kohli-led Indian in the 4th Test match of the 5-match Test series at Kennington Oval, London.

To everybody’s surprise, Indian Vice Captain Ajinkya Rahane didn’t come out to bat at the number 5 position and instead of him all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was sent at no. 5. Meanwhile, Virender Sehwag has come up with a possible explanation behind this move by India.

India didn’t have a good start at the Oval Test, as while losing toss and batting first they lost both the openers at the score of 28. Also, Cheteshwar Pujara got out very quickly, However Indian captain Virat Kohli was looking in good touch. Fans expected that the Indian vice-captain will join the captain on the crease. However, India decided to send Ravindra Jadeja at no.5 which got mixed reactions from fans on Twitter.

“It could be just one of the matches when Jadeja was promoted up”: Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag has opined that India sent Jadeja ahead of Rahane to force England’s bowling unit to change their line and length against a left-hander. Sehwag believes that if this is not the reason then it’s not a good sign for India. Also, he feels that it’s a one-and-done thing for India promoting Jadeja up the order.

“Maybe it was step taken to force the England bowlers to alter their line and length against a left-hander. And if the reason is something else then it’s not a good sign for India. It could be just one of the matches when Jadeja was promoted up and sent in to bat ahead of Ajinkya Rahane. The conditions are favouring swing and troubling the right-handers, so send in Jadeja at No. 5; which we usually see in the shorter formats. The right-hand and left-hand combination often troubles a bowler, so may be to introduce that format in Tests as well,” Sehwag said.

“When you are getting out regularly while batting at a similar position then such changes are made”: Virender Sehwag

Sehwag further pinpointed that alongside Rahane, Kohli and Pujara also haven’t scored runs, So it’s just a one-time affair that Rahane’s batting position was changed. He recalled the 2004 Australia tour where Sachin Tendulkar’s position was changed when he didn’t score good runs.

“Rahane hasn’t scored much in the last games but same is the case with Kohli and Pujara. Why wasn’t their position altered? So, I think it could be a one-time affair. I remember, Tendulkar wasn’t getting runs in the 2004 tour of Australia. So, Sourav Ganguly changed his position from No. 4 to 5 and he himself batted at No.4. It happens sometimes that when you are getting out regularly while batting at a similar position then such changes are made.”

Former Indian opener further added that even he was pushed back to the middle when he was going through a rough patch.

“Even when I wasn’t scoring as an opener, I was sent to bat in the middle order. When I found my rhythm back, I was back on the top of the order. So that could be a possible reason for the change,” Virender Sehwag concluded.

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