‘Rahane was dropped from ODIs like a fly is removed from milk’: Chopra feels India batsman was hard done by

Against Australia in 2017, Rahane scored four half-centuries in a row and followed it with a 79 against South Africa in the first ODI of a six-match series, but he was shown the door only three low scores later.

 

New Delhi(Agencies):Former India opening batsman Aakash Chopra believes Ajinkya Rahane got a rough deal when he was dropped from India’s limited-overs set up despite not doing too badly in the middle order. Rahane has scored 2962 runs from 90 matches at an average of 35.26 of which 843 have come from batting at No. 4 in 27 matches with an average of 36.65. His numbers as ODI opener are even better with 1937 runs from 54 matches including three centuries.

Yet, Rahane was dropped from India’s ODI setup after India’s series against South Africa in 2018. It’s been more than two years but Rahane still continues to sit out of India’s ODI and T20I squad and Chopra feels it was unfair to drop the batsman on the basis of a few inconsistent scores and that he should have been handed a longer rope.

 “His numbers at No. 4 were good. And at number 4, if you are giving good performances, consistently playing well and strike rate is also around 94, then why are you not giving him more chances? He was dropped all of a sudden, just like you remove a fly from milk. Why was something like that done? I feel he was hard done by,” Chopra said while answering viewers’ questions on his YouTube channel.

 “If India had become like England, that they will score 350 in every match, that is the only way they will play, whether it goes their way of not. We didn’t do like that. We still play cricket in the traditional orthodox way. We still build the innings and pick a team that can score around 325, so Ajinkya Rahane would have fitted in that.”

In 2014, Rahane emerged as a tremendous makeshift opener for India in the absence of an injured Rohit Sharma. He scored a couple of vital half-centuries in the Asia Cup that year and a terrific century against England at Edgbaston. Against Australia in 2017, Rahane scored four half-centuries in a row and followed it with a 79 against South Africa in the first ODI of a six-match series, but he was shown the door only three low scores later. Even when India were desperately in need of a No. 4 batsman ahead of the World Cup, Rahane was ignored.

 “In my opinion it was slightly unfair to him because when he was dropped from the ODI team he was absolutely fine. So when you are not playing someone after he has done well, you are not doing the right thing. In fact, when he played in South Africa, there also he did well. I remember that, it was in 2018. He should get an opportunity again,” Chopra said.