WTC Final: Former India batter hails Ajinkya Rahane’s impact but says, ‘there’s another innings to go’

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has hailed the impact of Ajinkya Rahane after returning to the Indian team in the World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval. Rahane missed out on a hundred on Day 3 of the WTC final but helped India avoid the follow-on and thus kept his side in the hunt for glory. His fellow Mumbaikar, Manjrekar has applauded him for the impact after returning but says his sole innings can’t justify his tag as a crisis batter since there are two days and an innings to go in the match.

Rahane is not a crisis batter

“I don’t think Ajinkya Rahane can be called a batter in crisis. There’s another innings to go, the crisis has to be averted in a way that you either draw or win the game. But this innings, solely on the kind of odds… he’s done brilliant,” Manjrekar told ESPNCricinfo.

“To call him the player in crisis… he has played an odd innings, but the old Ajinkya Rahane would follow it with low scores. Who knows, the new Ajinkya Rahane could be the Test batter 2.0. Maybe, he can carry it in the second innings as well,” added Manjrekar.

Rahane had a pleasant outing in India’s first innings when they were struggling at 71/4 having lost Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, and Rohit Sharma. He along with Ravindra Jadeja put up a 71-run knock for the fifth wicket on Day 2 while on Day 3 he and Shardul Thakur put up a 111-run stand for the seventh wicket which made sure India avoided follow-on in the first innings.

Rahane will now have a big role to play as India are expected to chase a big total in the final two days of the Test match. If he does end up winning the match for India, they will become the first nation to win all the International Cricket Council (ICC) trophies.

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