Sandeep Patil Slams Ajinkya Rahane After Poor Show In New Zealand

Former Indian chief selector, Sandeep Patil has slammed Ajinkya Rahane and questioned his tactics after the latter had a very poor outing in New Zealand.

Due to the batsmen’s failure, India kneeled in front of the Kiwis and faced a humiliating Test series defeat. It was their first series defeat since the ICC World Test Championship began. Having started the tour on a high, India fell apart in the ODI and Test series.

Ajinkya Rahane falters after a decent start:

They were outplayed by the Kiwis in the ODIs who avenged their clean sweep in style by clean sweeping the visitors in the ODI series by 3-0. However, the Tests were set to be the perfect decider.

But, India failed miserably in front of the Black Caps.

The batsmen especially had a very poor outing. Now, questions are being raised by fans and experts alike over team India’s selection and individual performances.

Sandeep Patil Takes A Sly Dig At Ajinkya Rahane:

Speaking to Times of India, Patil said that a batsman decides to play slow when he is afraid of failure. “I heard about this (batting slowly) when he was playing for Mumbai this season. This happens due to fear of failure. He has led India, he’s got a tremendous overseas record, but all that’s history.

Now that he’s been labelled only as a Test player, been out of the India’s limited overs team, human nature is such that one wants to establish himself as a Test specialist. He’s trying to prove a point,” he said.

Patil further went on to add: “By doing that, you try to show that ‘I’ll be technically correct. I’ll try to occupy the crease. If you want to just ‘occupy,’ you can call a security guard! Who’ll score the runs?”

Ajinkya Rahane will now be seen in action in the 13th season of the Indian Premier League. Rahane will represent Rajasthan Royals in the tournament. Rajasthan will begin their IPL 2020 campaign against three-time champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

Also Read: Harbhajan Singh Questions Shubman Gill’s Omission From India’s Playing XI For New Zealand Test Series