It's been a long wait for Ajinkya Rahane

India will have a new opening pair in the third Test at Mohali as MS Dhoni’s rejuvenated team looks to tighten the screws on the struggling Australians in its mission to avenge the 0-4 loss Down Under in the 2011-12 season.

Dhawan may be the favourite to walk out with Vijay. He has been an opener all his life. He was named as the third opener by Sandeep Patil and Co, and is likely to make his debut in the third Test.

Ajinkya Rahane is in the team as a middle-order bat (that’s what Patil said during the England series).  

Lest forgotten, he’d started off as an opener before batting at No 3 for Mumbai and India ‘A’ sides.  Even in his last competitive match for Mumbai against Rest of India, prior to the current Test series, Rahane batted at No 3, making 83 and 25.

Rahane sure will be tested at the highest level. No doubt he has scored heavily in the domestic circuit, season after season, averaging 62.04 in first class cricket since his debut in 2007-08. But as they say, there’s a gulf of difference in domestic and international cricket.

He has had a modest success in the international arena since his ODI debut in England in 2011. Stints with India ‘A’ and the Emerging Players have given him invaluable experience.

So is he ready to face the new ball first up?
Former Mumbai coach Praveen Amre, who has worked closely with Rahane ever since the youngster broke into the Ranji side, believes his ward has the right technique to open.
“Rahane has a very good temperament to play the longer format. Even as a No 3 batsman for Mumbai, he has often walked in to bat when the ball was still new and scored big. He has a very good technique to play the new ball,” said Amre, who is also Rahane’s personal coach.

India are getting a much-deserved rest after the second Test. The team will reassemble in Mohali on March 11. But during this period, away from  people’s gaze, Amre has been working on Rahane’s basics.

“I keep telling him that he has to have an open mind and bat wherever the team management wants him to — as an opener or at No 6. It depends on the requirement of the think-tank,” Amre said. How good Rahane is at the Test level will only be known once he has been given the chance. It is up to him to make the moment count.

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