SA vs IND 2018: Ajinkya Rahane Has Sealed His Spot At Number 4: Sunil Gavaskar

Insisting that Ajinkya Rahane has made the Indian team-management realise that they made a mistake by dropping him for the first two Tests against South Africa, former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels the Mumbai star has sealed the number four spot in the ODI team at least for the ongoing series.

Gavaskar’s comments came soon after Rahane’s 79-run knock helped India beat South Africa by six wickets in the first ODI at Kingsmead, Durban. After being tried out as an opener in the last one year or so, Rahane was sent in at number four in the series-opener and he totally justified the decision. He and skipper Virat Kohli stitched together a record 189-run stand as India chased down the 270-run target inside 46 overs.

“I think [it was a] terrific innings. He [Rahane] built it up so well. He also showed he could play the big shots, hitting those sixes. He has been showing that it was a mistake that they didn’t pick him for the first two Tests,” Gavaskar said during a post-match analysis show on Sony Ten 1 television channel after the first ODI.

“They did not pick him in the ODI matches [against Sri Lanka last year], slotting him down as an opening batsman. Look, he bats in the middle-order in Tests, so he is used to batting the middle-order in the ODI matches. Yes, there was a feeling that he was not able to rotate the strike freely in the middle order. But over the years he has improved that, he is scoring at a very good clip,” Gavaskar added.

Prior to the knock in Durban, Rahane was surprisingly for the first two Tests before being drafted into the playing eleven for the third Test where he played a vital knock of 48 in the second innings on a treacherous pitch to help India secure a consolation win.

Gavaskar further praised Rahane’s technique and said he has all but sealed the number four spot on the team.

“He is technically so good. On overseas pitches where there is a little bit of help for the quicker bowlers, he is able to stave off the good deliveries and wait for the bad deliveries.

“I think he has sealed his spot at No. 4. There shouldn’t be too much discussion about No. 4 unless he is terribly out of form [again]. He has sealed for this series at least for this series,” said the batting legend.

The number four spot has been a major area of concern for the team management. Since the Sri Lanka tour in July-August last year, the team has experimented extensively but without much success. The likes KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya and Dinesh Karthik were tried at that position but none of them managed to impress.

Here is the news feed:

Sarfraz Ahmed Compares Babar Azam to Virat Kohli, Calls him ‘Chotay Cheeku’

SA vs IND 2018: Stand-in Captain Aiden Markram Reveals his Batting Position