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Analysis: Why India should feel very grateful to have Ajinkya Rahane

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Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey

Does Ajinkya Rahane get the appreciation he deserves? | How Ajinkya Rahane performs admirably for Team India | Comparing India’s no.5 to Kohli and Pujara

Whenever a conversation about great Indian Test batsmen of the ongoing generation commences, Ajinkya Rahane is someone who is slyly sidelined from the discussion. Players often run the risk of being overshadowed in the company of an all-time great. It happened with several of them when Sachin Tendulkar was at his very peak and it seems to be happening in Rahane’s case too.

The 32-year-old endured a rough patch in his career a couple of years ago. Ultimately, the instinctive nature Indian fans arose and the general perception about him has never been the same since. There have been numerous calls to bench him in the favour of the supposedly more formidable younger talents.

Yet, staying true to his behaviour, Rahane has kept his head down and worked on what he does best, i.e. take his game several notches upwards when the team required him the most. In this article, we attempt to delve deeper into Rahane’s Test career and formulate a concrete, evidential opinion about his importance in the current setup.

Records-Basic Milestones:

Unlike the shorter formats of the game where parameters such as the BASRA and runs per innings vs balls faced per innings are considered, the credentials of a batsman could be judged pretty much with the general statistical measures in Test cricket. For an uninitiated time, it appears to be that Rahane is quite an impactful cricketer. The number where he bats at in the longest format of the game isn’t the most convenient one of the lot.

The likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli arrive to the crease at a time when they can set the tone for the match. Conversely, Rahane tends to get into partnerships with the lower-middle order batsmen and has to improvise his approach in order to reach a suitable target. That is regardless of the innings that he bats in.

On many occasions, he is capitalizing on the base set up by the aforementioned two names and hence the situation might not always be ripe to pile up runs in abundance. Yet, here we look at the number of half-centuries and tons notched up by India’s three-middle order pillars and particularly we look to stress on the difficulty of the moments in which they acclaimed these milestones.

Does Ajinkya Rahane get the appreciation he deserves? How Ajinkya Rahane performs admirably for Team India | Comparing India's no.5 to Kohli and Pujara
Comparing total half-centuries between Kolhi, Pujara and Rahane

Rahane bags a half-century at a rate of one 50+ score every 4.95 innings, which is a significantly better than 6.59 of Kohli and 5.12 of Pujara. However, that is not an area that distinguishes him from the other two individuals. The most important facet over is here is the fact that 72.72% of his half-centuries have come whilst batting away from home. When you compare that to Kohli, the Indian skipper has scored 54.54% of half-centuries outside India. Pujara has done so on 28% of the occasions.

Of course, there is certain similarity in batting conditions when an Indian batsman bats outside the country but in Asia. So while break that down even further, Rahane still manages to topple his teammates in this regard. The vice-captain has notched 13 half-centuries away from Asia. These include the SENA countries along with West Indies.

An interesting observation that could be noticed is that followers often tend to undermine the potency of the West Indian bowling attack in the Caribbean conditions. The Duke’s ball tends to aid the pacers tremendously, and hence tackling the home team’s fast bowlers is no mean task.

They generate incredible incisiveness, boast of raw pace and are relentless in their pursuit over there. So, this specific study considers batting in West Indies in the same breath as that of the SENA nations.

Anyways, racing towards a 50+ score is certainly more challenging in SENA+WI for Indian batsmen than in Asian conditions on most instances. Rahane stands apart in this parameter, as he has scored 13 out of his 22 career 50+ scores outside Asia.

This translates to a rate of 59.09% of his half-centuries coming when batting in quite alien scenarios. The RCB skipper has done it on 50% of his overall Test career half centuries, whereas the seven times that Pujara crossed the 50 run mark outside home-all of have been beyond the Asian subcontinent too (28%).  

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Centuries:

However, bagging the big century carries a significantly different value when the Indian team is on a tour away. Their inability to seamlessly adapt to different conditions in multiple countries has been detrimental to the team’s eventual performance. Even in India, the key to success has been to out-bat the opposition, i.e. to accumulate a total that would intimidate the adversary right from the offset.

In terms of scoring those crucial tons, Virat Kohli easily surpasses the rest of the lot. He has added 27 of them to his kitty already, whereas Pujara has 18 to his name. Rahane falls behind over here, with 11 centuries in his entire Test career to his name. Yet, if one were to determine the condition in which he crossed those 100 run marks on multiple occasions, it simply leaves the individual astounded.

Analysis: Why India should feel very grateful to have Ajinkya Rahane

Seven out of Rahane’s 11 centuries have been in overseas matches. Moreover, five of them were when the Indian team played away from Asia. His international century record is 63.63% as compared to 51.85% and 44.44% for Kohli and Pujara respectively.

Though the Mumbai-born batsman’s overall sample space of centuries is lower when compared to the other two players over here, it had become prevalent even in the parameter considered before this that Rahane has superseded the others when it came to achieving milestones in tougher conditions away from India. Then, one tries to further dissect it to pick out the 100+ scores that were scored in SENA+WI. Here too, Rahane has an overall rate of 45.45% of centuries scored outside Asia. Virat has done it 44.44% of times whereas the Saurashtra batter registers a stat of 27.77% in this aspect.

There’s another catch in this respect though. Out of the four centuries that Rahane has scored at home, three of them should have a distinct place too. That is because; they weren’t notched in encounters where every batsman had a feast due to favorable batting conditions.

Take for instance the twin tones that he scored in the Arun Jaitley Stadium against South Africa in December, 2015. That was a much-maligned series due to the rank-turners that the Indian side created on a consistent basis. Hence, the games tended to end soon. Batsmen often struggled to get going and it is showcased from the fact that none of the batsmen except Rahane managed to score a single century throughout the four-match long series.

There were players like AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Dean Elgar involved who failed to pile up the big totals. In contrast, Ajinkya Rahane managed to score two centuries in a single game!

Next, we would look at his latest century that was scored in Ranchi, again against the Proteas. In the first day of the match on a quick and seaming track, Kagiso Rabada breathed fire with an enthralling opening spell and picked up three quick wickets dismissing Mayank Agarwal, Pujara and Kohli very cheaply.

At 39/3, Rahane joined Rohit Sharma on the crease. He weathered the initial storm and made his way to a graceful knock of 115 runs from 192 deliveries. The pitch made the likes of Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje a formidable force to reckon with but the former Rajasthan Royals player maintained his composure to score yet another crucial knock in a precarious moment for his team.

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Falls behind in converting those 50s into 100s:

One of the aspects where Ajinkya Rahane has been short in upping his game is the converting his half-centuries into centuries. At first, Rahane had a record of eight centuries to nine 50+ scores. However, the efficiency with which he could capitalize on the base set up initially has reduced over the years.

The 32-year-old has fallen prey to certain poor shot-selection at times, or just ran out of luck through a sudden dismissal after looking well in control of the proceedings. However, the inability to build onto his half-centuries has carved an impact; a reprehensible mark on his overall record.

Analysis: Why India should feel very grateful to have Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane’s conversion rate is lower than that of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara

Kohli easily triumphs his teammates over here. In fact, the Indian skipper has more centuries (27) than half-centuries (22) in his tally in Test cricket and that is an indicator of his supreme command and proficiency once he gets his eye in the game. Cheteshwar Pujara isn’t far behind either. With a conversion rate of 41.86%, he converts approximately 2.5 of his half-centuries into a 100+ score.

Also read: Is Virat Kohli the best Indian top order batsman in IPL history?

However, Rahane has a meagre figure of 33.33% to his name. It is often said that batsmen do not always come across good batting days, and hence it should be a strong-willed determination built within them to make their promising innings’ count into bigger scores. Maybe, it is also a major factor that makes some very good batsmen into excellent or all-time greats.

Regardless of your contribution on several crucial junctures of your career, when the team was desperately in need, it is the players who bagged those bigger scores who will be ranked a spot higher on many occasions. Whether it is fair or not is up for debate, but it doesn’t excuse Rahane from his inability to pounce on his 50+ scores and pile more substantial individual scores.

Perhaps the Mumbai-based batsman requires more of the ‘khadoos’ attitude that is so much prevalent in the men who hail from the metropolis city!

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Home Average: Average in SENA+WI

This segment does not look to undermine the importance of playing big knocks in home conditions. To counter the opposition, combat the turning tracks and bat for a very long period of time in India is not an easy task, and requires significant amount of determination and concentration.

However, the Indian top-order more often than not does not disappoint when at home. They are well-versed and acclimatized to drain out the overseas pacers and spinners in India. Hence, the middle-order, more often than not dons a supporting role as they arrive at the crease in situations that are quite convenient with a formidable total on the board already.

When travelling outside Asia though, one would often come across the Indian team losing a few wickets upfront. Here is where the quality and depth of the middle-order comes into play.

The men in the middle have to step up, take the mantle and guide the team towards a respectable score; not merely follow the tone set by the batsmen from the top of the order. The craft of rejigging the broken momentum of the innings is a tough one to master, and the real test of the same is glaringly visible when the Indian team bats in countries not in the subcontinent.

So, we decided to compare the home averages of these three players with the records that they have stacked up in the same parameter in SENA+WI countries. We would try and look at the difference in both these statistics of the batsmen concerned, and try to draw a parallel upon the individuals who are able to replicable or even better his form and record across different conditions.

Analysis: Why India should feel very grateful to have Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane fares well in SENA+WI

An interesting result that we discovered during the process of the writing was that Ajinkya Rahane is the only one amongst these three batsmen to have a better average outside Asia than he has whilst playing in Indian pitches. It could be partly because of the fact that Kohli and Pujara have such magnanimous records in India that it is difficult to replicate elsewhere.

The captain averages 68.42 in India, whereas the number three batsman has racked up a figure of 59.84. On the other hand, Rahane’s average is a slightly disappointing 39.29.

It stressed upon two points. Firstly, when the Indian top-order fires with all cylinders, there is very little significant work to be done for the others. Secondly, when the situation arises to uplift your game due to severely testing scenarios, there are very few people who have that feel of the magnitude of the game and hence manage to better their own selves.

It needs to be noted that it is not a direct comparison amongst the three considered batsmen. Rahane is not a run-machine like Kohli or Pujara, yet his importance and overall tendency to rise to the occasion should not be diminished. And, it could be deciphered clearly only when we bring into picture the statistics of these players where we compare them to their own records in different conditions and not with that of the other individuals.

Rahane has an average of 44.10 in SENA+WI, which is a net +4.81 than his numbers at home. He is the only one who has been able to register a positive net rate in this component. Whereas, when you implement the (SENA+WI average – Home Average) formula to Kohli and Pujara, the figures turn out to be -23.58 and -26.25 respectively. Hence, the lower line in the graph plummets down gradually thus signifying the vast difference in the numbers considered over here.

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Numbers from the Second & Fourth Innings (Combined) in SENA+WI:

For India to win a match away from Asia, the hope is arguably mostly pinned on winning the toss and opting to bat first.

It puts the side in a commanding position right from the offset and over the years, they have been found suspect in chasing fourth inning targets in such conditions. Hence, the true mettle of an Indian batsman when operating in such perilous scenarios could be observed through his exploits in the second and the last innings of a Test match in SENA+WI.

Hence, we try to put forward a graphical representation of the same.

Just to make it clear, the uppermost curve in this graph is that of the average that Rahane, Kohli and Pujara have obtained in the second and fourth innings of matches in SENA+WI. Virat’s image as that of a master-chaser is further evident in this area of the game. He averages a massive 64.13 in the 16 matches that he has batted in the two aforementioned innings away from the continent.

In addition to that, he has scored nine brilliant centuries and four half centuries, further asserting his rather incomparable tendency to make his good innings count and convert them into tons regularly. He has by a sizeable margin been India’s most formidable bet when the team is chasing a target, or looking to take a first-inning lead.

Rahane doesn’t fall far behind either. In fact, his numbers shine apart over here. The vice-captain has an impressive average of 51.82 in the second and fourth innings of matches held in SENA+WI. Furthermore, he has scored three centuries and five half-centuries.

Despite a very solid record, even over here Rahane’s conversion rate is a tad bit disappointing. The initial part of an innings is always the most testing one in SENA+WI, and he has bagged five half-centuries by weathering that storm. If he would have managed to stay on the crease and build upon even a couple of them into centuries, his overall figures would have been even more remarkable.

Nevertheless, an average of almost 52 with multiple centuries and 50+ scores in arguably the toughest phase of a match in SENA+WI is definitely a very important accomplishment for a batsman from the team’s perspective.

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Records in the matches that India won in SENA+WI:

Regardless of the innings of the match, eventually the most important aspect is to secure a victory in tougher playing conditions.

The character of a team becomes resplendent through the same. Though the bowlers are often said to be the most important factor in notching a victory in SENA+WI, the previous cycle of away tours must have proven that an enthralling pace unit couldn’t do much without the support of an equally august batting unit.

Moreover, the value that a player carries in his team is his contributions in some of the most significant victories that the team pulled off i.e. in this case, Test wins outside Asia. Here, we would be analyzing the performances of India’s middle-order trinity in the victories away from the subcontinent in which they have been a part of.

Ajinkya Rahane is miles ahead of the others in the race over here and rather surprisingly so. His average of 53.26 is absolutely fantastic, and incredibly proves his worth in India’s remarkable wins in the past seven years or so.

Furthermore, leaving the rest behind by such a considerable margin couldn’t have been possible by only a solitary high-scoring innings. It rakes of consistency, a sense or feel of the big occasion and the repetitive tendency to rise up those scenarios and help in molding the team’s fortunes.

As for the others, the trio has scored a couple of centuries each in these wins, which is quite laudable. Rahane and Kohli have an equal number of half-centuries, whereas Pujara leaves a bit to be desired for over here.

Nevertheless, the Indian number five’s relentless ability to pitch in with impactful performances in such striking victories has been long overshadowed by his more-followed teammates, and hence a breakdown of this sort had to be done over here to solely highlight his achievements.

Records in matches won and drawn in SENA+WI:

However, the Indian team hasn’t always been fortunate enough to win Test matches on a regular basis beyond Asia. In certain instances, it has been crucial to opt for a draw rather than succumb to an embarrassing defeat, or even to sustain a lead that was gained earlier on in the series.

Hence, we believed that taking records only from the matches won in SENA+WI wasn’t appropriate for this study. Instead, we decided to look at the broader picture and also include in the matches where no result could be obtained at the end of the game that were held in the countries barring the Asian ones.

Here, the numbers of these three players shoot up by a very fine margin, thus indicating that all of them have had important roles to play in securing a draw in these countries.

Even here, Rahane’s average is 58.62 as opposite to 51.75 and 43.10 of his peers. Without striking a comparison of sorts, it could in some ways be concluded that Ajinkya Rahane has had a very integral role to play in these crucial results that have been bagged by the Indian team in recent times; for which, he has been tremendously maligned and underappreciated.

Kohli has scored six centuries and seven half-centuries, the most in this list. Rahane has notched five tons whereas Pujara has done so four times. Virat has played six more innings (34) than the rest of the two individuals (28).

Ajinkya Rahane has always boasted of temperament that has helped the team sail through certain very tricky situations. Even in the games where he hasn’t scored those big runs, the half-centuries here and there have had a major role to play in the eventual outcome of the series.

His knock of 52 runs in the second innings of the second Test in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February 2017 comes to mind. The Indian team had managed a slender lead of 33 runs after losing four wickets at 120 runs at a time when the Australian bowling unit left nothing to spare. Setting up a massive total seemed to be a distant task, and the Virat Kohli-led unit ran the risk of suffering consecutive defeats at home and also foregoing the opportunity of a series victory against Australia.

That could have been a major embarrassment. But, Pujara and Rahane stepped up to form an absolutely steely partnership of 118 runs span across 46.3 overs to drive the Aussies out of the game and stamp their authority yet again. Such innings often get overshadowed because Rahane had bagged 52 runs and not a major century.

Yet, the situation in which he had arrived to bat and the value that his runs led that day was simply much more than many of the other centuries garnered by his counterparts on different occasions. That single partnership shifted the momentum in India’s favor and eventually aided the team in claiming a 2-1 victory in an absolutely challenging series of Test cricket.

Or consider his counter-attacking innings of 48 runs scored at a strike rate of 70.58 in the second innings of the third Test in Johannesburg in January 2018. After having been unfairly benched in the initial two Test matches, Rahane returned to play an absolute blinder to create a mark over the series and thus accordingly provide India an edge that the other batsmen possibly couldn’t in that all-important second inning.

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That victory aided India in avoiding a whitewash and further magnified the indispensability of Ajinkya Rahane to this Indian Test unit. He might not have scored runs in heaps. His overall aggregate might not look as imposing as that of others. But, his willow has worked remarkably well when the need of the team was at its zenith, when the others had fallen short in chipping it.

When encountered with problematic and dicey moments, Rahane has made sure that he stepped up take the mantle and counter the opposition in his own way; sometimes by a tactical retreat, by a pragmatic approach or by an expansive, classy demonstration of his array of shots. More often than not, his approaches have presented productive results for the team and therein lies Rahane’s notability and eminence for the team.

He might not be the man for all situations, but he is definitely a man for the situations that are not suited for all.

Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter today.

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Tarkesh Jha
Tarkesh Jha
Tarkesh Jha is a media professional and cricket writer who has managed social media content, public relations (PR) and marketing related content for cricketer Ajinkya Rahane and cricket presenter and stand-up comedian Vikram Sathaye. Also, Tarkesh has been featured in some leading publications such as Sportskeeda, Khel Now, firstpost.com, and cnbctv18.com

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