5 reasons why Ajinkya Rahane is the most important member of the Test team

2. He brings the perfect balance to the batting line-up

India has a very strong batting line up consisting of KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wridhiman Saha and the all-rounders Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. But the batsman who brings the best balance to this batting line-up is Ajinkya Rahane.

He is someone who comes in the middle order, brings in the right solidity to the batting line-up and along with Pujara completely stabilizes the innings. Rahane comes in usually when there is a need to stabilize the innings or build on a partnership both aspects which he has shown to be capable of handling with ease.

Take for e.g., the second test at Colombo when he came in after Kohli’s early demise and he and Pujara notched up a huge partnership of over 300 runs and he himself scored a beautiful error free 132 runs complimenting Pujara’ s 133.

The need of the hour at that time was to neutralize any benefit Sri Lanka got with the fall of few quick wickets, play it out and build on a strong, solid partnership which exactly is what happened and that ended up being the crucial difference between the two sides as India notched up a mammoth 622/9 beating the hosts by an inning and 52 runs over the hosts something which never happened before. A moment to cherish for Indian fans.

Whether be it showcasing his solid technique and holding one end up or increasing the scoring rate when required, Rahane can play both roles with ease which increase his importance in the side adding to his value as a player and as the vice-captain of the Test team.