After a below-average performance in the first Test, which India ended up losing by 10 wickets, Team India was humbled by an emphatic 7-wicket loss by New Zealand in the second Test of the two-match series at the Hagley Oval at Christchurch.
Ex-Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Sandeep Patil has expressed his thoughts on Team India vice-captain in Test Ajinkya Rahane's batting displace during India's tour of New Zealand.
Patil went absolutely critical and slammed Rahane for his poor displace in the two-match Test series and claimed if he just wanted to “occupy the crease, then he should have called a security guard” instead.
"I heard about this (batting slowly) when he was playing for Mumbai this season. This happens due to a fear of failure. He has led India, he’s got a tremendous overseas record, but all that’s history," Sandeep told TOI.
"Now that he’s been labeled only as a Test player, been out of India’s limited-overs team, human nature is such that one wants to establish himself as a Test specialist.”
The former Team India cricketer then went on to add how Ajinkya was trying to lay his mark on the game by occupying the crease and show his technical skills but if he's stagnant then who will score the runs for the team?
"He’s trying to prove a point. By doing that, you try to show that ‘I’ll be technically correct. I’ll try to occupy the crease. If you want to just ‘occupy,’ you can call a security guard! Who’ll score the runs?”
“I’m not saying throw your bat around," Patil clarified. However, when you’ve so many hundreds behind you, this approach is not acceptable. An ordinary player like me survived on foreign soil, these players are champions,” he added.
The 1983 World Cup-winning cricketer signed off by raising questions towards Ravi Shastri and the batting coaches' abilities who failed to make Ajinkya understand what's needed in certain situations.
“If Rahane isn’t understanding this, what is Shastri (chief coach), and the batting coach doing?"
"If one batsman goes into a shell, the others follow, and the team suffers. Those who bats after such batsmen feel that the bowling is too good.”
After a below-average performance in the first Test, which India ended up losing by 10 wickets, Team India was humbled by an emphatic 7-wicket loss by New Zealand in the second Test of the two-match series at the Hagley Oval at Christchurch.
With this victory, the Blackcaps also whitewashed India in the two-match Test series and claimed up to third in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings with 180 points.
Still, India are still leading the pack with 360 points after 9 matches played.
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 "Sandeep Patil and Ajinkya Rahane")
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