Former India batsman Praveen Amre is pretty sure of the fact that Ajinkya Rahane will do well in South Africa despite his poor form of late.
Talking to the reporters in Mumbai, Amre said, “For a cricketer whatever (has happened) is history now. He is going to South Africa and he should see that in his last tour of South Africa, he averaged more than 65. I think team India, especially the selectors have a lot of faith in him that is the reason he (Rahane) is the vice-captain. That responsibility is there and he is aware of that. I am sure in the coming one month, whatever people believe in him, he will deliver to that.”
Amre has coached Rahane since childhood and he feels that the Mumbaikar will figure out the which are the areas in his batting that needs improvement. He said, “We worked as a team. Whenever he was successful, he got 100 in each innings, you congratulated me. When he is going through a tough time, it is equally my responsibility to figure out where exactly it is going wrong. I personally feel it is my job to go through the details and work on (them) and make sure he is ready for this battle.”
Rahane’s record in overseas conditions has been phenomenal weather it is England, South Africa or New Zealand. When Amre was asked whether scoring overseas would help him, Amre said, “We always judge how a player plays abroad. I think that is a big advantage he has. He should believe in that because he has that capacity to do well. He is working really hard because this is important for team India and his contribution as a batting unit is very important. His role is there to deliver for India.”
India will tour South Africa for a three-Test, six-ODI and three-Twenty20 series, starting January 5. Talking about the series, Amre said, “This tour will be more challenging because there are no practise games. They have to really visualise themselves and how things will happen. It is going to be challenging. We are going to play three matches. The first Test will be so critical. Whoever starts well will have the advantage. It will be difficult to bounce back.”
