SA v India 2018: Team Management Could Have Backed Rahane Says Wasim Jaffer

When Rohit Sharma failed to score well in the first Test against South Africa, it was expected that vice-captain, Ajinkya Rahane, might walk in the playing XI as he has a heavy average outside sub-continent.

However, skipper Virat Kohli did not include him in the playing XI, which raised many eyebrows and left many questions unanswered. Kohli has come under the scanner for his surprising decision and amidst this, Wasim Jaffer, the veteran player, has backed Rahane and has said that the team management could have backed him,

“If anything happens to Virat (Kohli, Indian captain), and you drop Ajinkya also…so it’s a wrong message (to the team) as well. Plus I think he’s a very important player for India, especially in Test cricket. I mean if you look at all the overseas tours (in recent times), he and Murali Vijay have stood out. He’s got runs in South Africa, England and Australia. He’s got runs in those conditions before,” he told TOI.

“It was only the last series against Sri Lanka that he was getting out cheaply. However, it wasn’t as if he was throwing his wicket away. That can happen to the best of the players,” Jaffer added.

Rahane was dropped from the playing XI due to his failure in three-match Test series against Sri Lanka, where could just score 17 runs in three matches. On the other hand, Rohit pounced on the opportunity and scored a century and two half-centuries in three innings, to show some form on his comeback to Test cricket.

His show in the series helped him to fix his place in the playing XI, and Rahane had to vacate his place. Though, the performance against Sri Lanka is probably not the right barometer to judge the performance of a player especially when India have played 16Test matches at home in last 16 months.

All the batsmen (barring Virat Kohli) have failed to emulate their home success in South Africa till now, and with just three innings remaining in South Africa, the performances of all players will be keenly watched.

Talking of Rahane, he would be benched for ODI series as well as he is a backup of Rohit and Dhawan in ODIs. He will only get his chance when any of these two will fail.

Rahane is not a part of T20 format and is expected not be selected in the T20I side for the series too.

In short, if Rahane doesn’t get a chance in the third Test as well, then he would come back to India without playing any game in South Africa.

Follow India’s tour to South Africa here: South Africa Vs. India – Freedom Series

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