Ajinkya Rahane scored 35 and 4 in the ongoing first Test match against New Zealand.
Former Indian batter VVS Laxman slammed stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane for his poor batting technique in the ongoing first Test match against New Zealand in Kanpur.
Coming into the Test series against New Zealand, Ajinkya Rahane faced a lot of criticism for his lean patch of runs as after scoring a match-winning hundred in Melbourne, he managed just 372 runs in eleven Tests at an underwhelming average of 19.57 to go with one fifty-plus score.
Rahane in the first innings of the ongoing first Test match against New Zealand looked very positive and showed great determination but failed to cash on the start he got, as he was bowled by Kyle Jamieson for 35 runs.
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After India lost Cheteshwar Pujara early in their second innings on Day 4, everyone expected Ajinkya Rahane to bail his team out of the trouble but this wasn’t the case as he failed to get going and invited more criticism for his form.
The right-handed batter was trapped in LBW by Ajaz Patel for just 4 runs as he came forward to defend the ball.
While speaking on Star Sports, VVS Laxman analyzed Rahane's technique, saying his "baby step" lacks decisiveness which forces him to play from the crease and not get in the right position for the full deliveries.
"Absolutely, he is not decisive (while deciding whether to play on the front foot or the back foot). If your feet stay rooted to the ground, then you are forced to play from the crease. Just take a look at the way Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed today.
“The main problem with Ajinkya Rahane is the initial step, something we also call the "baby step". If the baby step falls onto the toe or the heel, then your leg gets stuck. From that position, you cannot move at all. That is why Rahane often plays a full delivery on the back foot," VVS Laxman said.
Laxman pointed out that Rahane failed to rotate the strike and in Indian conditions batters cannot solely depend on blocking the ball and hitting only fours and sixes as strike rotation is important.
“Another issue is that you cannot rotate the strike. If your strike rotation is poor, you are forced to play the big shots. In Indian conditions against spinners, you cannot solely depend on defense and fours and sixes. Strike rotation is important,” he said.
With Virat Kohli set to return to the Team for the next match and Shreyas Iyer having a dream debut, it is highly expected that Ajinkya Rahane will lose his place in the side.
(Star Sports inputs)