Among the many people wondering why Ajinkya Rahane wasn’t in the playing XI in the first One Day International match against Sri Lanka is former captain Sourav Ganguly.
The team management decided to drop the senior Mumbai batsman on Sunday, instead choosing to hand Shreyas Iyer a debut and pick Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey in the middle order. India crumbled to 112 all out to Sri Lanka thanks to the moving ball in, on a track on which a batsman of Rahane’s calibre could have made a difference. At one point, India were tottering at 29-7 before Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kuldeep Yadav got them past the three-figure mark. None of the top-order batsman showed the match sense to play out the new ball.
“Whatever happened in Dharamsala was an aberration and we all know the capability of these batsmen. What is worrying me though, is, are India playing the best team? I know it will seam in Mohali too – since it’s an 11.30 am start – and India must play Ajinkya Rahane at No 3. He should have played in Dharamsala too because he has the ability to play in such conditions. So, I am a little curious to know why he didn’t play,” Ganguly told the Hindustan Times.
Stand-in-skipper Rohit Sharma justified his exclusion saying that it would be tough accommodating the Mumbai batsman in the current Indian set-up because he is considered a specialist opening batsman in the 50-over format by the team management. Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan are the first-choice openers currently, with Rahane and KL Rahul in reserve.
However, Ganguly rubbished this reason saying that there isn’t much of a difference between the role of an opener and that of a No 3 batsman. India’s current No 3 in ODIs is Virat Kohli, who is on a vacation.
“Going by the conditions in Dharamsala and Mohali, it is imperative Rahane plays at No.3. In fact, to my mind, both Rahane and KL Rahul (not in the squad) should be playing more and more ODIs,” Ganguly, one of India’s most prolific Indian openers, said.
He also said that the selectors should back Rahane and Rahul keeping the 2019 World Cup in mind. “When Virat comes back at No.3, there will still be slots at Nos.4 and 5 (with Dhoni at No.6) and if you are looking at the World Cup 2019, I would want the selectors and team management to back Rahane and Rahul. They have proved themselves in the past and I think they will make the middle-order more productive,” he said.
The second match scheduled for Wednesday in Mohali is expected to have a seaming track as well. It remains to be seen whether Rahane will be picked to shore up the Indian batting lineup.