Ajinkya Rahane plays a shot in an ODI match at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur (PTI)
Despite his absence from India’s white-ball assignments, Ajinkya Rahane feels he still has a chance to make a comeback in the Indian ODI setup.
Rahane, who last featured in an ODI in February 2018, on India’s tour to South Africa, has played 90 one-day internationals where he has scored 2962 runs at an average of 35.26.
Now former Indian allrounder Chetan Chauhan has thrown his weight behind the Mumbai batsman and said that he should have been in the Indian ODI squad against New Zealand.
“I wanted Rahane to be in the ODI set-up when (Shikhar) Dhawan and Rohit (Sharma) got injured. Someone who could have given stability to the side should have been brought into the side,” Chauhan said.
“(Jasprit) Bumrah is looking a little tired. I expect the side to give a good performance in the Test series against New Zealand. Experienced campaigners like Rahane will be back in the Test set-up, but Rohit and Dhawan will be missed,” he added.
India faced a humiliating loss by the Kiwis in the ODIs. The Men in Blue were whitewashed for the first time in 31 years since their 5-0 defeat came against West India in 1988.
Earlier, Rahane had spoken about his comeback and told PTI: “In the last two years, I don’t like to tell people that my record is good but yes the fact is, my record is good. Cricket is a funny game and anything can happen. I definitely hope to come back into the ODI team.”
“At times, we get too caught up in our pursuit of success and then we suddenly realise that we are required to just stop, sit back and introspect. I did exactly that when I wasn’t selected for the 2019 World Cup,” he added.
“I am in a very good space right now and it started from the West Indies series. I was in England, playing county cricket where I learned a lot, not only as a cricketer but also as a human being,” he said. “In two months, I played seven games. So it wasn’t always about on-field learnings but also about off-field learning.