Ajinkya Rahane turns 35 on June 6, the day before the start of the World Test Championship (WTC) final between India and Australia at The Oval in south London. He played the last of his 82 Test for India at Newlands in Cape Town in January 2022. Even a few weeks ago – before Shreyas Iyer’s back issues ruled him out for the foreseeable future, and Suryakumar Yadav’s form nosedived – even Rahane would have told you that his chances of a Test comeback were slim to non-existent.
But the cricket Gods work in mysterious ways. Normally, you wouldn’t think that IPL form would influence Test selection in any way. And in Rahane’s case, he hasn’t even been an IPL regular since his last season with Rajasthan Royals in 2019. Since then, he has been with Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders, without settling in either side, and it was very much as a reserve batter that Chennai Super Kings went for him before the 2023 season.
The history of Indian cricket, however, is filled with stories of MS Dhoni and his intuition. Bowling Joginder Sharma in the last over of the inaugural T20 World Cup final. Turning to Hardik Pandya for the last six balls against Bangladesh in the same competition in 2016. Having Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan make hay at the top of the order the last time India won an ICC title – the Champions Trophy in 2013.
To that list, you can now add his decision to include Rahane in Chennai’s XI for their match against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium a fortnight ago. Rahane’s sublime 27-ball 61 helped Chennai ace a tricky run chase, and their momentum since then has been ominous for the other sides in the competition.
As for Rahane, he has plundered 209 from his five innings so far this season. The strike-rate of 199.05 is by far the best of anyone with more than 200 runs. You read that right. Rahane is scoring faster than Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler, David Warner and Glenn Maxwell. Significantly faster.
And it’s this form that has tempted India’s selection panel to take a punt on him in the squad for the WTC final. Iyer is unavailable and SKY has been dropped, and some within the corridors of power clearly remember the magnificent 103 he made at Lord’s in 2014, which inspired a famous Indian victory.
But neither Rahane nor his supporters should get carried away just yet. It’s very likely that Rahane may be on the sidelines for the match. Srikar Bharat was far from flawless with the gloves and offered only glimpses of potential with the bat during the home Tests against Australia. Though he has never kept wicket in a Test before, KL Rahul’s better record in English conditions could title the scales in his favour if India choose to lengthen the batting order.
Rahul has acquitted himself well with the keeper’s gloves in white-ball cricket – his batting average in both format goes up when he keeps – and the fact that he has made sparkling centuries at both the Oval (149 in 2018) and Lord’s (129 in 2021) strengthens his case. In fact, from India’s current playing XI, only Rohit Sharma has a better average (42.36 from six Tests) than Rahul (34.11 from nine) in English conditions.
And while Rahane’s Lord’s hundred will always have a special place in Indian cricket lore, his subsequent displays in England have been far from convincing. In 2018, he had half-centuries in Nottingham (81) and Southampton (51), but made little impact otherwise, and the four Test in 2021 saw him cross 20 just once, when he made 61 at Lord’s. After 15 Tests in England, Rahane averages 26.
There’s also the bigger question of team balance. Shardul Thakur’s inclusion despite not playing a Test since last July is a sign that he will almost certainly play to give India a fourth seam-bowling option. Having both Rahul and Shardul in the XI gives some heft to a middle order that badly misses the dynamism of Rishabh Pant. On their day, both are capable of scoring at a good clip, and wresting the initiative.
So, while Rahane has more than enough reasons to be pleased with the manner in which his return to form has been rewarded, it’s still a slim chance that he will actually make the Test XI. But given the volume of cricket that remains to be played before June and the way the stars seem to have aligned for Rahane, don’t rule it out either.
Should Indian team management bring back Rahane or try Rahul at No 5 slot for upcoming WTC Final?