Why Virat Kohli and India need Ajinkya Rahane to find his groove before South Africa

Delhi holds a special pace for Ajinkya Rahane in his Test career. In March 2013, he made his debut in India’s whites against Australia. And he had an imminently forgettable outing with scores of 7 and 1 – throwing away his wicket in both the innings. He was subsequently dropped for the next Test.

Almost two years to this day, Rahane walked out to bat in the final Test of the four-match series against South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla, this time with a statistical monkey on his back. His scores in Test matches played in India since his debut read 15, 2, 13 and 9.

With India travelling predominantly abroad in his early days – his first 21 Tests saw him play 20 away from home – Rahane was in a unique position of having scored a century in Australia, England and New Zealand (and a 96 in South Africa), without a single Test ton to his name on home soil.

He changed that in dramatic style in that memorable Test match against Hashim Amla’s men. He scored not one, but two centuries in the game – becoming just the fourth Indian to score centuries in both innings of a Test match. And he looked imperious doing it. It was always only a matter of time before Rahane corrected the anomaly of not having a good record at home. That Delhi Test was seen as the potential turning point, and good scores against New Zealand last year reinforced that belief.

And now back in Delhi, in December 2017, as India prepare to face a hapless Sri Lankan side in the third and final Test, he once again finds himself in the midst of a poor run in the longest format in conditions where the rest of him teammates thrive.

His scores so far against Sri Lanka read 4, 0 and 2. The first can be written off as part of the collective failure of the Indian batting order in the first innings at Eden Gardens. The second innings in Kolkata and the one in Nagpur were both played in significantly better batting conditions and yet, Rahane could not get going. The dismissal in Nagpur was the most disappointing of all, tamely cutting a short ball outside off stump into the hands of the fielder at point. He had to watch four Indian batsmen make centuries on a placid track from the dressing room.

In the 10 Test matches at home since the New Zealand series, Rahane has 377 runs in 17 innings with a dismal average of 23.56 and the recent failures against Sri Lanka have only added to his woes. For a supremely talented batsman, who his captain repeatedly refers to as the best in the longest format along with Pujara, those are disappointing numbers.

His home-away statistics are skewed once again. He now averages 53.44 in 24 matches away from the ‘comfort’ of Indian conditions, but 35.64 in 18 home games. A difference of nearly 20 runs per innings after 42 Test matches is just bizarre for a batsman of his abilities. Add his 0, 49, 45 and 0 for Mumbai in the two Ranji Trophy games he played before the series, the trend starts to become a bit worrying.

It’s hard to put a finger on why Rahane is facing issues in what should be familiar conditions. His success overseas is a testament to the fact that he likes the ball coming on to the bat at pace, when there is some bounce on offer. He likes to play the cuts and drives on the up, and on turning, slow-paced Indian pitches that’s not the easiest option. It is still early days for India to worry about his home form, and rest assured, his role will assume a massive weight as Kohli prepares his team for their biggest test yet against the Proteas.

In the final Test against Sri Lanka in Delhi, he has two more potential opportunities to break out of this mini-slump. Kohli would once again want a green top, in his team’s final Test before the series in South Africa that every Indian cricket fan and their dog are concerned about more than this pointless exercise against Sri Lanka. Whether it’s a green track that has pace and movement on offer like the one in Eden or just green in appearance like in Nagpur, it remains to be seen. Either way, as the glue that has held India together in the middle order for many an overseas Test, the last thing Kohli would want is an out-of-form Rahane going into the South Africa series.

Now, Rahane has another opportunity to find his groove. The Indian Test vice captain would not want to be a headache of the bad kind for Kohli, and there wouldn’t be a better chance to get himself going against a defeated Sri Lankan side at a venue where he broke one jinx and erased the memories of that forgettable debut.