ICC World Cup 2019: Why Ajinkya Rahane deserves a place in the Indian World Cup team

#1 Ability to perform dual role

England v India - Royal London One-Day Series 2014

The biggest advantage of taking Rahane to England would be his ability to function as both a Number four batsman and a back-up opener. He offers both the skill-sets to perform efficiently in both the positions. KL Rahul has never proven himself as a middle-order batsman while Rayudu has opened just once in international cricket.

Since the 2015 World Cup, Rahane has played 10 innings at number four and scored 420 runs at a strike rate of 92.71. He also has a superb average of 46.66 and has been the best of the lot at the position. His competitor, Ambati Rayudu has played 15 innings since his comeback at number four and scored 464 runs at a strike rate of 85.6. He has maintained at an average of 42.18.

While Rahane played all his games against strong teams like South Africa, Australia, and Bangladesh, Rayudu scored 217 runs in four games against West Indies. If those four games are filtered out, he returns home with just 247 runs from 10 innings at an average of 30.87. Even his strike rate of 75.30 doesn't make for good reading.

As an opener, Rahane has smashed eight 50+ scores in his last 11 innings. KL Rahul has only had three 50+ scores in 13 innings in his career. All those 50+ scores have come against relatively weaker teams such as Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

Statistically speaking, it is quite evident that Rahane is a much better option than both Rayudu and Rahul. Moreover, his inclusion would allow India to select Hardik Pandya, Vijay Shankar, and Ravindra Jadeja in the squad without dropping anyone; a move that would bolster the squad significantly.