Ajinkya Rahane would be disappointed in the manner he got out, says Sanjay Bangar

12/03/2017

Sanjay Bangar has pointed that Ajinkya Rahane would be frustrated with the way he is being dismissed in recent games of the ongoing Test against Sri Lanka. The India’s assistant coach, however, has backed Rahane to bounce-back soon and confidently stated that he would find his groove.

Rahane failed to deliver in the ongoing home series scoring only six runs in the last two Tests. In the first innings in Delhi he, again, seemed to be unable to find his rhythm as he was dismissed after adding a single run to India’s total. In 2017, Rahane has played 10 Tests in which he scored just 543 runs at an average of 38.78. Since his debut to the end of 2016, he has played 32 Tests where he scored 2272 runs at an average of 47.33.

Bangar talked about the manner in which he has been gifting his wicket to the Lankans but also believed that the No. 5 batsman would soon overcome this situation.

"He would be disappointed in the manner he got out. He is somebody who works hard on his game like all players do. May be last match and this match, he erred in shot selection," Bangar said in the press conference on Saturday as quoted by Cricbuzz.

"I think that would be hurting him definitely but he is a quality player, and going forward, even his overseas record has been phenomenal, yeah he would be disappointed. He is a quality player and has the ability to bounce back quickly."

After the end of the Sri Lanka tour, India will visit South Africa and the first Test will start on January 5. His recent performance has given enough fodder to his critics to question his imminent inclusion in the squad but his away record holds the Mumbai man in good stead. The 29-year-old has played more games away from home and in the 24 games that he has played Rahane has accumulated 1817 runs at an average of 53.44 which includes six centuries and nine half-centuries.

"His overseas record is phenomenal. I think, apart from Bangladesh, he is one of the few players who has scored in every country we have toured. That shows the quality he possesses. And you know, he is a quality player who has performed when the chips are down for the team.

"He will be hurting with the kind of dismissals he has had, but he is too good a player to not making runs for a long time."