5 reasons why Ajinkya Rahane should play the ODI series against Sri Lanka

#1 ODI batting form in 2017

Rahane has had the best year of his ODI career in 2017

Rahane's form in 2017 has been nothing short of spectacular. In 12 matches, he scored 586 runs at an average of 48, which is 13 over his career average. His strike rate this year (77) has remained nearly the same as his career strike rate (78). He also scored seven fifties and a hundred this year from those 12 outings.

Rahane played these 12 innings against England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Australia. He shared four 100-run partnerships in the series against Australia, three of them with Rohit Sharma and one with Kohli.

In the away ODI series against the West Indies this year, Rahane scored three fifties and a hundred from five innings and aggregated 92 more runs than Kohli. He also formed two hundred-run stands with Dhawan in the series. He was also awarded the man-of-the-series award for his overall performance.

Incidentally, in both the series against the West Indies and Australia, Rahane amassed more runs than Kohli, who is arguably the best Indian ODI batsman at the moment.