'Every player goes through a lean patch' - Vikram Rahour puts his weight behind Ajinkya Rahane

Team India batting coach Vikram Rahour has said the team is not worried about Ajinkya Rahane’s poor form in the ongoing Test series against England. The Indian vice-captain is going through a severe lean patch and has not scored much since his hundred in Melbourne Test earlier this year.

A lot was expected of Rahane on a belter Oval wicket but the right-hander could only manage scores of 14 and 0 in his two outings. The fans are not amused by the Indian management sticking to Rahane and want them to give players like Suryakumar Yadav, Hanuma Vihari and Mayank Agarwal a chance in the middle order.

However, Rathour feels every player goes through a lean patch and needs the backing of his team during that phase. Rathour cited the example of Cheteshwar Pujara, who too was under the scanner before the third Test but the management decided to back him and the No 3 batter has paid dividend by scoring two vital fifties in Leeds and London respectively.

“Not at this point. As I said earlier also, when you are playing cricket for a long time, you will have phases where you will not get runs. That is the time when we need to support the player as a team. As we saw with Pujara also, he has played a couple of important innings for us.”

“We are hoping Ajinkya will get back into form and still play a major role in the Indian team’s batting. I do not think we have arrived at that point where Rahane’s form should become a concern,” said Rathour during a virtual press conference.

Rahane has just scored 109 runs in four Tests at a dismal average of 15.57 and his numbers are worst among the Indian batters. However, with the management backing Rahane, it seems he will be given an opportunity in the final Test in Manchester as well.