Aakash Chopra was critical of the Indian team management for Ajinkya Rahane's removal as the side's No.4 batsman in ODIs in the build-up to the 2019 World Cup.
Rahane, the Indian Test vice-captain, last played an ODI in February 2018 on the tour of South Africa. He was among the many candidates trialled for the No.4 spot, as the team kept moving from one option to the other without ever settling on one, which came back to haunt in the World Cup semi-final defeat to New Zealand.
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While Rahane's overall record at No.4 doesn't give as impressive a reading - 843 runs at an average of 36.65, strike-rate of 83.71 in 25 innings - he improved on those numbers after the 2015 World Cup, scoring 420 runs at an average of 46.66, strike-rate of 92.71 in 11 ODI innings.
This improvement is exactly what Chopra stressed upon to make his point.
"His numbers at No. 4 were good. And at number 4, if you are giving good performances, consistently playing well and strike rate is also around 94, then why are you not giving him more chances?" asked the former Test cricketer-turned-commentator on his youtube channel.
"He was dropped all of a sudden, just like you remove a fly from milk. Why was something like that done? I feel he was hard done."
Chopra questioned why India felt Rahane is dispensable to its World Cup quest despite still having a traditional approach to batting in the 50-over version, unlike teams such as England, who believe in filling their side with attacking players all the way.
"If India had become like England, that they will score 350 in every match, that is the only way they will play, whether it goes their way of not. We didn’t do like that. We still play cricket in the traditional orthodox way. We still build the innings and pick a team that can score around 325, so Ajinkya Rahane would have fitted in that," he said.
"So, in my opinion, it was slightly unfair to him because when he was dropped from the ODI team he was absolutely fine. So when you are not playing someone after he has done well, you are not doing the right thing."
"In fact when he played in South Africa, there also he did well. I remember that it was in 2018. He should get an opportunity again," Chopra concluded.
