It is an old saying in cricket that if things are going your way you need to make the moment count. Score when you are scoring heavily or pick as many wickets when you are in form, for inevitably the good run of wickets will desert you sooner than later, and you will start to struggle. No one has better realised this in recent times than M S Dhoni. A man who could do no wrong is now just not able to do things right. For me, the only reason behind this is the team Dhoni has at his disposal. India neither fielded a full side in England nor are we fielding a full side against the visitors come next week. Our Test batting in the absence of injured Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh is looking fragile and Suresh Raina hasn?t been able to do justice despite the many opportunities he has got.
I am delighted to say Ajinkya Rahane is doing justice to the saying I started out with. Since his very first opportunity for the Men in Blue, Rahane has impressed one and all. Unfazed against the short delivery and trying to improvise every now and then, this young Mumbai lad has seriously staked a claim for a spot in the Indian Test line up with his Irani trophy ton. Rahane has the technique and the temperament, and unlike Suresh Raina, the longer version of the game doesn?t appear to overawe him. It might well be that Rahane is tried out against the West Indies in November and subsequently in Australia at the crucial number six spot in front of Raina.
It is expected that most, if not all, of India?s big guns will be fit for the tour of Australia. This will mean a settled opening pair with Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman to follow. With Raina there is a definite weakness in the Test matches. Add to this Dhoni?s fragility against the new ball and you risk an early start to the tail. Also, Raina?s failure in the Test arena is bound to impact his performance in the shorter versions of the game, where, needless to say, he is lethal. One of the best hitters of the ball in contemporary world cricket, Raina, it is turning out, is a specialist One day and T-20 player. Why risk him in the longer format when you have someone like Rahane waiting in the wings?
Rahane?s biggest strength is that he can bat long. He has done it on numerous occasion for Mumbai in the Ranji trophy in the last few seasons and once again demonstrated this ability in the Irani trophy match against Rajasthan. Even the three figure mark did not impact upon his concentration. He continued unfazed and got to his 150 in relatively quick time. His ability to counter the short ball, which was in evidence against Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson in England gives him a head start for the number six position. It is only natural that the Australians led by Mitchell Johnson will pepper the Indians with the short stuff especially after the debacle in England and Rahane, more than Raina, is better suited to tackle this.
The only chance India has in Australia is to bat big and bat long. Even if Zaheer Khan does make a comeback in time for the Australia series the bowling looks relatively fragile. Khan might turn out fit but will have had little or no match practice before going to Australia. While he is worth risking given his immense potential, the back up in Praveen Kumar in less ideal swing friendly conditions will mean the Indians will continue to struggle to pick 20 wickets. Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh will surely have to step up, but it is our batting that can set things up for the sardar. A 400-plus score in Sydney or Adelaide and Singh will definitely come into play. In doing this and doing it consistently India will need all of its top six batsman to contribute, thus enabling Dhoni to bat freely at number seven. That?s why Rahane becomes crucial. A top order collapse and he has the ability to drop anchor, and if you need quick runs he has the ability to step up the scoring rate as he has shown in England.
Finally, if anyone looks a natural number three in the absence of Rahul Dravid it must be Ajinkya Rahane. He does exude a sense of calm in the middle and has the patience to leave outside the off stump balls, something Virat Kohli still needs to come to terms with. In Australia you will need to leave balls as much as possible to tire the Australian bowlers out and Rahane, to me, appears our best bet. I?d be happy to put my money on this youngster.
The writer is a sports historian