If you want to 'just' occupy crease, call a security guard: Former Chief Selector Slams Ajinkya Rahane!

Former India Chief Selector Sandeep Patil has slammed Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane for his poor batting approach in the just-concluded Test series against New Zealand.

India succumbed a 2-0 defeat in the series owing to poor batting performance. In four innings, Rahane scored just 91 runs at an average of 21.50. Despite managing to get a decent start, he failed to capitalise on them.

Speaking to TOI, Patil said, “I heard about this (batting slowly) when he was playing for Mumbai this season. This happens due to fear of failure. He has led India, he’s got a tremendous overseas record, but all that’s history. Now that he’s been labelled only as a Test player, been out of the India’s limited overs team, human nature is such that one wants to establish himself as a Test specialist. 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?" he added.

The former right-hander however clarified that he does not suggest Rahane to go after every ball. “I’m not saying throw your bat around. 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 said.

Patil also stated that Chief Coach Ravi Shastri and the batting coach should share the responsibility of correcting players' mistakes.  “If Rahane isn’t understanding this, what is Shastri and the batting coach doing? If one batsman goes into a shell, the others follow, and the team suffers. Those who bat after such batsmen feel that the bowling is too good,” he said.