Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that the confusion in KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane’s batting roles in Tests and ODIs must end.
In his column for The Times of India, Gavaskar also wrote that the team management should not jump to conclusions and select or drop players based on one performance.
“Rahul opens in Tests but is a middle-order batsman for T20 internationals and Rahane bats middle order in Tests but can find a place in one-dayers only as an opener,” Gavaskar wrote.
He added that Rahane’s perception as an opener in ODIs might not earn him a place in the squad despite his counter-attacking 48 off 68 balls in the third Test against South Africa, which played a major part in India winning the match. Similarly, Gavaskar pointed out that Rahul, who bats in the middle order in T20Is, opens in Tests.
“Both may eventually not play but in their interest it’s important to tell them that they are flexible players who should be ready to bat anywhere in the order,” Gavaskar wrote.
India’s performance on Johannesburg’s tricky wicket, which offered variable bounce and movement, pleased the former opening batsman. “They showed the gumption, the guts and the determination to take the blows and hang in there,” he wrote.
India’s win in the third Test, he added, dispels the myth that their batsmen can’t handle pace.
“Even the Don had his problems in the Bodyline series and no batsman in the world can put his hand on his heart and say he enjoys playing good fast bowling,” he wrote.
Gavaskar believes India has the best chance to win their maiden ODI series in South Africa, who will miss AB de Villiers’ services for the first three matches. The Durban pitch and the venue’s squarer boundaries will help India take an early lead in the six-match ODI series, he wrote.
