India should have selected Ajinkya Rahane

“To break into a National team, as a batsman, flamboyance works more than solidarity, doesn’t it?”

Indelibly, this is the quote that is running around my over active mind as we have arrived on the eve on the 3rd Border-Gavaskar Test in Perth with the Indian batting in tatters.

The reaction to the batting struggles has led to the Indian selectors getting their emery cloths out to sharpen their axes, with both Virat Kohli and VVS Laxman‘s heads put on the chopping block. Rohit Sharma has been put into the picture as a possible replacement for either, and indeed a player who should have been chosen years ago.

He will logically replace the out of depth Virat Kohli, but a charismatic selection move would have seen VVS Laxman replaced as well. Just by the fact that with the series all but over it is a perfect opportunity for India to start their future now rather than holding grimly onto the past.

This means allowing a perfect opportunity to introduce Ajinkya Rahane into the Team. A batsman of solidarity and sound technique that has seen him average 68.47 in his Ranji Trophy career and symbolically 68.50 with two centuries on his tour of Australia in 2011 as part of the Emerging Players Tournament.

Indian fans will be aghast at this suggestion due to the fact that it would be a baptism of fire with India brought to their knees at two-nil down in the series and the prospect of a fiery WACA pitch to contend with. This has merit if you are talking of flaky types of players, but this Mumbaiite has real balls making you believe he could be a gem found on this dismal tour.

His inclusion in the Team would also add a much needed bit of steel into the line up, and allow the line up a bit of pragmatism. In allowing the option of using Rahane as either an opener to move Sehwag away from the new ball, a number 3 to take pressure off Dravid or indeed a number 5 to be the accumulator in between the stroke makers at 4 and 6.

Aside from this benefit, the reality of Rahane is he can play very well, and has been overlooked constantly by the selectors with no justifiable reason ever given for his non-selection.

I saw him in Australia a few years back, and back foot or front foot, the lad is equally at ease. A fine player square off the wicket and not afraid of the short stuff as we saw in England with some of his hooking and pulling.

Plus, he is the old style Test player in an age where teams that have embraced these types of batsmen and foregone flashy types are reaping huge rewards. Just think of the key characteristics of the batsmen in the English and Pakistani line ups…

He has a real toughness, which makes you believe that when confronted by crisis he would choose to take a step forward and face it, rather than a step back and cower before being put out of his misery like some of the other more famed Indian batsmen.

Time to choose him, Team India!