Ajinkya Rahane unfortunate to miss out: Former cricketers

• Ambati Rayudu, the man who took Ajinkya Rahane's place in the XI, is yet to open his account in the T20 series against South Africa
• "Rahane is a batsman who can stay put when wickets fall or improvise when the situation arises," says Dilip Vengsarkar
• "Rohit and Dhawan have been batting very well at the top of the order. With them doing so well, it's become difficult to get Rahane in," says Ajit Agarkar

With Indian skipper MS Dhoni expressing
reservations about Ajinkya Rahane's ability to rotate the strike freely while batting at No. 4 or 5 on slow, sluggish wickets in Bangladesh earlier this year, it was not surprising to see the Mumbai batsman, who has been amongst India's prolific run-getters in the past year, benched for the first couple of T20s against South Africa.
However, Ambati Rayudu, the man who took Rahane's place in the XI, failed miserably in both his outings against the Proteas, so much so that he is yet to open his account in the series. It may be unreasonable to be harshly critical of Rayudu, given the fact that the 30-year-old has just played three T20 internationals till date. But, it also throws open a debate about whether Rahane would have been a better choice in the prevalent Indian conditions.
"Rahane is a batsman who can stay put when wickets fall or improvise when the situation arises. Even in the IPL he has shown a lot of consistency. So, I am surprised that he did not get a chance to play in either of the games," former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar told TOI.
Looking at recent performances in the shortest format of the game, Rahane has surpassed Rayudu by a fair distance. While the Mumbai batsman hit 540 runs in 14 matches in IPL-8 at an impressive average of 49 and a decent strike rate of 130.75, Rayudu managed 281 runs in 15 games at an average of 31.22 and strike rate of 145.59.
Former India seamer Ajit Agarkar reckons it could have boiled down to the fact that Rahane, who opens for Rajasthan Royals, is perceived as a batsman who does well in the top three. But, with Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli occupying these slots, it could have been difficult for the team management to find Rahane a slot in the XI.
"By the looks of it Rahane is suited to bat at the top of the order. That's probably why Rayudu played ahead of him. Maybe, the captain feels Rayudu bats better at five or six. That's the only reason I can think of. Otherwise I don't think there is any comparison with the kind of form Rahane has been in," said Agarkar.
"In T20 it becomes a bit hard that Ajinkya has missed out. It's a bit unfortunate, but Rohit and Dhawan have been batting very well at the top of the order. With them doing so well, it's become difficult to get Rahane in. Hopefully, he will get a chance to play . But, otherwise I don't see any reason why Rahane would have missed out," he added.