Head coach Rahul Dravid speaks about the return of Ajinkya Rahane
For Rahane, failure in the game could potentially be career-ending. But head coach Rahul Dravid does not believe so. Addressing a press conference at The Oval on Monday, Dravid said Rahane should not take this opportunity as just an opportunity.
After a gap of 18 months, Ajinkya Rahane is all set to make a comeback to Test cricket for India and that too at a big stage like the World Test Championship (WTC) final. He returned to the team after a good domestic season for Mumbai. And now, he is getting ready to make the most of the opportunity that has come his way.
Rahane was selected in the team after Shreyas Iyer could not recover from a back injury. The former vice-captain last played a Test match for India in January 2022 against South Africa in Cape Town, after which he was dropped due to inconsistency with the bat along with teammate Cheteshwar Pujara. While the latter made a swift comeback after some stellar performances in county cricket, Rahane had to wait for over a year to regain his place.
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For the 35-year-old Mumbai batsman, failure in the game could potentially be career-ending. But head coach Rahul Dravid does not believe so. Addressing a press conference at The Oval on Monday, Dravid said Rahane should not take this opportunity as just an opportunity.
“First of all, it’s good to have him. We’ve had a few injuries which has probably given him an opportunity to be back in the team. It’s great for us to have someone of his quality back. He obviously brings a lot of experience. He brings proven performances in overseas conditions. Even in England he has played some brilliant innings for us.’
He said, ‘ He also brings in the group by taking excellent catches in the slips. He also brings his personality to the group which is really important. He has brought a lot of success to the team. And once again, I don’t want him to see this as just a one-off.”
The Indian head coach made it clear that it completely depends on Rahane’s performance.
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“Sometimes you get dropped from the teams and you come back and as long as you are playing well and as long as you are performing. It is not written in stone or rule that you should only Gets a match. He performs well, really shows what he’s got.”
“Who knows, even when guys come back from injury, you never know what can happen. So again, from my point of view, it’s really not only about this match. Yes This match is important, but in the larger context there is a lot of cricket to be played.
