India suffered one of their lowest and embarrassing moments in its ODI history when they lost the first two games of the series against Bangladesh, thereby conceding an unassailable lead of 0-2 in the three-match series. The primary reason for both the defeats was the pathetic batting performances in both the games. India failed to chase 308 on a very good wicket in the first ODI and were bowled out for a paltry 200 in the second ODI.
This leads to the question: what has gone wrong with the batting? Following the pasting received in the first game, Dhoni decided to ring in some changes. As far as the batting side of things was concerned, Ajinkya Rahane was dropped, surprisingly, down the order. The man who took his place, Ambati Rayudu, was dismissed for a duck.
Dhoni’s explanation at the post-match press conference was: “We all felt that Ajinkya would do really well as a third opener. Or, we have time now; we can play around with him. He needs pace. We have seen that he plays a lot better when there is pace on a wicket. Whenever he has played at No. 4 or No. 5, if the wicket is slow, then he struggles to rotate the strike freely. Especially when he is just starting his innings, he has a bit of trouble. It is not easy.”
Dhoni makes a valid point. No doubt, Ajinkya Rahane is one of India’s best batsmen in Test cricket. However, does Rahane feature in India’s best ODI XI? If yes, the batting order will need a reshuffle. Rahane’s struggles batting in the middle order in ODI cricket are well documented. The biggest sticking point is that he lags behind in the most imperative skill needed for batsmen, in 50-over cricket: consistent rotation of the strike. As seen in the 2015 World Cup semi-final vs. Australia and on numerous other occasions, he lacks the ability to rotate the strike and alleviate pressure.
In modern limited-overs cricket one needs either to be hitting boundaries or to be taking lots of singles to keep the score ticking over and dot balls at a minimum. For a player like Rahane, the latter option seems more viable. This little flaw can be suppressed by slightly better placement in the batting order. When on song, he times the ball so sweetly and looks like the best in the world. Better placement means he will be able to churn out those singles with more ease and that is critical for a batsman who doesn’t play expansive shots like, for example, Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma.
The stumbling block is that Rahane is a specialist opener learning to bat down the order in International cricket. At the top, there is a little more time to ease in and lots more time to catch up. But when a batsman is whisked into the middle having to rebuild after a poor start or needing to take advantage of a good one, time is short. Rahane lacks that bit of versatility needed by a batsman who comes in at four, because he would have come to the crease in many different circumstances. A number four can come in with the score both at 10-2 and 200-2.
Rahane himself said after his half century against South Africa in the World Cup that he needs time by his side to score at a higher tempo, and when timing deserts him, he tends to struggle more often than not. This conundrum of whether to include Rahane or not can be solved by making a simple tweak. Make Rohit Sharma bat at four and let Rahane open. Ajinkya Rahane is an opening batsman who is still not comfortable in the middle order and Rohit Sharma was never an opener, even in domestic cricket, until 18 months back when he got an opportunity to bat at the top of the innings in ODI cricket.
Rohit Sharma is as dangerous as anyone in the world when he gets set and we’ve all seen it in the recent past. His ability to play the big shots and move up an extra gear as well as play the watchful hand will make him invaluable at number four. The only issue here is that Rohit Sharma has done very well whilst opening and it has almost been a new lease of life for him after he moved up the order. He has an average of around 48 ever since he started to open the innings.
However, at times, a sacrifice must be made if the team benefits. Rahane’s average of 30 at a strike rate of 76 in 55 games doesn’t make for pretty reading but to be fair to him, he has never been allotted a consistent position. He opened the innings when he started off and has been batting in the middle order with albeit, lesser success, in recent times.
Whenever he’s had a good run, it’s been at the top of the order where he has had enough time to play in his own tempo and be the anchor of the innings. Even in the five-match ODI series against Sri Lanka towards the end of 2014, Rahane opened the innings and went on a great run. But in a stroke of what one might call bad luck, Rohit overshadowed him with a record breaking 264 in Kolkata and as soon as Dhawan returned for the World Cup, Rahane was pushed down to bat at four.
Rahane’s been told to buck up if he is to be in the scheme of things as far as ODI cricket is concerned. Tough love can be tacit, and players of such competence should find ways to become accustomed. But to make things easier for all parties concerned, a straight swap between Rohit and Rahane seems a wiser and more prudent decision.
India will not want to lose a player of Rahane’s proficiency and to ensure that doesn’t happen, this seems the only possible way. If this culture of owning a right to one’s batting position is exterminated, the Indian team will hugely benefit. Ideally, this is the batting order which will be more often successful than not in all conditions across the globe – Dhawan, Rahane, Kohli, Rohit, Dhoni, and Raina
