Virat Kohli, Pujara And My Averages Came Down In Last 3 Years Because Of Pitches In India: Ajinkya Rahane

While Rahane's average in the 2020-21 season was 29.23 in 14 innings, it went as low as 19 in the 9 innings of 2021 where he played 5 Tests. In 2021-22, his average was 21.87 in eight innings.

India's Ajinkya Rahane walks back to the pavilion after his dismissal during the third day of the third Test cricket match between South Africa and India at Newlands stadium in Cape Town on January 13, 2022.

Source : RODGER BOSCH / AFP

Even though reports have claimed that Ajinkya Rahane's name could be removed from BCCI's Central Contract list after he no longer remains in their scheme of things for the national Test team at the moment, the batter hasn't not given up on making a comeback. 

The former Rajasthan Royals captain not only let his bat do the talking when he scored a sensational double hundred while playing for Mumbai against Hyderabad but also gave an interview in which he blamed the pitches in India for a dip in his average while playing for Team India.

Don’t Think There Were Many Mistakes: Rahane

"There was no mistake (in his style of batting that his average dipped), we were playing in India for the last three years. If you look at the players who are batting at number three, four or five their average has come down because of the wickets. Pujji-Virat and my (Pujara, Kohli) averages have come down," Rahane was quoted as saying by Indian Express after his marathon innings in which he scored 204 off 261 balls.

"I don’t think there were many mistakes; it’s not every time that we are committing the mistakes. Sometimes the wickets are such, this is no excuse but everyone saw the kind of wickets we had in India," the 34-year-old added.

Notably, Rahane has featured in 82 Test matches for India out of which he played 17 in the last three years. While his average in the 2020-21 season was 29.23 in 14 innings, it went as low as 19 in the 9 innings of 2021 where he played 5 Tests. In 2021-22, his average remained round about the same, just fractionally better at 21.87 in eight innings. He managed just 1 hundred when came at the Melbourne Cricket Ground during India's historic series triumph but very little to show to his credit otherwise barring a couple of half-centuries.

"As a batsman it is always challenging especially if you are batting as a middle-order. For openers it’s easy. It’s because of a hard ball but when a batsman gets out, we tend to think where did we do wrong," Rahane said.

Notably, 5 of the 17 Test matches which he played in the last 3 years were played India where the right-handed batter managed just 1 half-century.