"The moment a batsman starts going down the order, it can be a very slippery slope" - Deep Dasgupta reckons demoting was unfair on Ajinkya Rahane

Deep Dasgupta opined that the Indian management is not helping out Ajinkya Rahane by dropping him down the order. He marked his concern that once a player starts dropping down the order, it can prove to be a “slippery slope”.

Virat Kohli promoted Ravindra Jadeja to the number 5 position above Ajinkya Rahane in both innings of the Oval Test against England. Pundits speculated that it could either be aimed at having a left-hander in to change up the monotony or might have to do with Rahane's poor form.

The former Indian wicketkeeper batter asked on BBC’s Test Match Special podcast if India would consider promoting Rishabh Pant over Rahane next.

“My concern from the last innings is, the moment a batsman starts going down the order, it can be a very slippery slope. 5, 6, where does it stop? You have somebody like Rishabh Pant scoring runs. What's next? You want Rishabh Pant before him now?”

Dasgupta added that while it could be a good strategy from India’s perspective, it would affect Ajinkya Rahane’s confidence for the worse.

“It might be a great idea from the team perspective to put a left-hander in and somebody who has looked better. But from a Rahane point of view, I don’t think that helps his confidence. When something like that happens, I don’t know if that sends the right signal to someone who is struggling with confidence and scoring runs, sending him down the order for obvious reasons.”

Shardul Thakur has now scored more runs than Ajinkya Rahane and taken more wickets than Ravindra Jadeja in the series!#ENGvIND #ENGvsIND

— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) September 5, 2021

What Rahane needs now is for the side to have faith in him, believes Deep Dasgupta.

“At times, as a player, you want that sense of belonging or importance from the team saying, 'You know we believe in you, we trust in you'.”

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"It will be very difficult for him to make a comeback" - Deep Dasgupta on Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane might find it difficult to come back into the national side if dropped

Deep Dasgupta fears that Ajinkya Rahane may not have an opportunity to come back into the national side if he is dropped. He pointed out that it would only be fair to give a decent run to any player who could potentially replace Rahane in the batting line-up.

“The thing with Ajinkya and the stage in his career, it will be very difficult for him to make a comeback. You've got one more Test match to go. You put someone like Hanuma Vihari in, and you have to give him a fair go. So the next time around, the next home series or the next Test series is against New Zealand. So obviously Hanuma then goes on and plays that series as well.”

With the age not in his favour, it might be curtains to the career of India’s vice-captain, fears Dasgupta.

“So, where does that leave Ajinkya Rahane and his career? He is in his early thirties, 33-34. If he is dropped now from the Test side, it’s going to be extremely difficult for him to make a comeback.”

Is that 0(8) Ajinkya Rahane saying India don't need runs and they have enough already?

— Alagappan Vijayakumar (@IndianMourinho) September 5, 2021

Ajinkya Rahane’s poor run of form continued as he was dismissed for an 8-ball duck on Day 4 of the Oval Test. With this, his average for the series dropped to a paltry 15.57.