Truthful Tuesday | Why Delhi Capitals need to back Ajinkya Rahane over Prithvi Shaw

As much as we don't want popular social media opinions to overpower factual and logical premises, it generally happens in the internet age where outrage garners more eyeballs than substance. When it comes to typecasting players in certain molds, it is one thing we all have been guilty of doing some time or the other in the past. For me, there was no way a certain Rahane could play over Shaw because he's too slow, lacks intent and can't accelerate like a T20 innings demands.

His strike-rate has been an issue but he has played the role of an anchor to perfection, playing out the first few overs where fast bowlers get something off the deck. And moreover, last season, he really took his strike-rate to the next level, which has been a constant point of criticism for Rahane. He made 393 runs at 32.75 with a strike-rate of 137.89, which was excellent. In fact, his strike-rate was better than the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, and Shane Watson, to name a few openers from the other sides. Surprised, eh?

Prithvi 'Inconsistent' Shaw

Prithvi Shaw, fresh from 2018 U-19 World Cup triumph, was promising in subsequent IPL, but he had a below-par last season where all he averaged was 22.06 despite getting backed all the way. He had six single-digit scores and could cross 20-run-mark only five times out of 16 games. And this year as well, after starting with a bang, he fizzled out, making scores of 7, 0, 0, 4 and 19, getting back to his trademark inconsistent run, and is averaging a poor 20.90 after 10 games. Shaw has a glaring weakness against fast bowlers as he doesn't come in line with the delivery, as his back foot stays rooted in the crease and pacers exploit that with the new ball. And yes, he's a big liability in the field as well. 

Present Situation

With Shikhar Dhawan already in full flow, Rahane can take time and solidify the opening partnership and that also helps DC to get the best out of the players like Shreyas Iyer, whom you ideally want against spinners than fast bowlers early on, which has been the case with Shaw being a walking wicket. It also helps Delhi promote players like Pant, Hetmyer and Stoinis to get and don the power hitting role if the team isn't on back foot with early hiccups. Not to forget, Rahane is a great reader of the game and is an incredible fielder, so he adds a lot of layers to the side.