Does Ajinkya Rahane deserve another chance in white-ball cricket?

Today at the event for the unveiling of India's new ODI jersey, there was a person present who we haven't seen for a while in the colored Indian jersey. And maybe we won't see him in those colours ever again.

Yes, it was the vice-captain of the Indian Test team, who was axed from limited overs after the South Africa tour in early 2018.

Ajinkya Rahane, who in 2013 was thought of as the perfect opener in the post Gambhir-Sehwag era, was suddenly out of favor as MS Dhoni elevated Rohit Sharma to the opening slot. Since then Rahane has been warming the bench, as the third opener or the backup opener.

But even those days of his seemed numbered, with KL Rahul majestically making his mark in the T20 arena. That forced the management to ask Rahane to solve the number 4 conundrum, and like the perfect prodigy of Rahul Dravid, he obliged.

Then started the misery. He was accused of playing too slow, and taking too much time to settle in. The average of 35 and strike rate of just 78 didn't help his cause either. These are not the numbers expected of a middle order batsman in one of the world's best batting lineups. And hence, his axe from the team was a given.

But like the perfect gentleman he is, he took that in stride. He tried to show through his majestic drives in the Test match arena that he is someone who can play as quickly as required by the team.

But with the team giving youngsters a chance to settle in, combined with the emergence of the IPL generation who play fearless cricket, Rahane never got a chance to redeem himself in the white-ball format.

Right now we see Ambati Rayudu as the Number 4 till the World Cup at least. But the question has to be asked: is he any different from Rahane? If their strike rates are compared, it can be seen that they are both equally slow starters. And although Rayudu averages close to 50, his slowness doesn't give much solace to an Indian fan.

The reliability that Rahane offers, Rayudu fails to provide. And if the conditions are testing, I would any day put my money on Rahane rather than Rayudu.

So why are we done with Rahane at No. 4? We saw him pleading recently to give him a chance but sadly, the team management and selectors seem to have looked past Rahane the white ball player.