Chinks in JINX's armour?

[_ramkumar]

Ajinkya Rahane has been described as the future of indian cricket a numerous times along with Kohli. His compact technique, range of shots and most importantly temperament has made him a vital cog in our test team. Rahane along with Kohli and Vijay were the biggest positives to come out of our overseas tour to SA, Eng & Aus. Indian home season is a opportune moment to put up big scores and improve career stats.

But his recent struggles against NZ (ODI's) and the subsequent dip in form vs England is worrying because when he fails we throw away the advantage earned by the top order. There is also a talk in ICF's threads that Rahane has a 'weakness against spin'. So I turned to the stats see what they say about Rahane's perceived weakness.

I did find a article verifying a decline in batting average vs spin since 2012 but its outdated (nov2015) and doesn't give us individual batsman's data. So i dived into cricinfo's data pool to fish out something useful.

At 3rd and 4th innings in Asia Rahane averages 36.90 which is lower than you expect but not inferior. But when India bats second in Asia he averages a dismal 8.28 which is shocker. So i checked whether he under performs when India bats second overseas too, he averages a staggering 76.00. 

 

His career average has dropped from 51.37 at the beginning of this series to 47.33. Now lets us see how Rahane fares when compared to other contemporary Indian players while batting second in Asia.

 

Every Indian batsmen out performs Rahane even Rohit (those numbers are against WI).

Why there is dip in his performance when India bats second is a mystery. Is it scorecard pressure or loss in confidence due to LOIs performance or technical weakness against spin or lack of temperament and careless batting against spin only time will tell.

He has worked hard  to seal his spot in the test side and there is no insecurity to it. A clear-cut anomaly exists in his stats but it is manageable. A couple of good innings should amend those stats. A inform Rahane is not only advantageous to Team India but also treat to watch for the fans.

Edited November 30, 2016 by _ramkumar

[MCcricket]

Rahane problem is more mental, his failure in ODi, trying to play test with higher S/R and also his over reliance on front foot game plus with lbw n drs making easier to get out lbw.

Yes he is a class bat n will get over it but def in a slump, n has to look to rotate strike n use the crease more,depth of the crease.

[_ramkumar]

 

2 minutes ago, MCcricket said:

Rahane problem is more mental, his failure in ODi, trying to play test with higher S/R and also his over reliance on front foot game plus with lbw n drs making easier to get out lbw.

Yes he is a class bat n will get over it but def in a slump, n has to look to rotate strike n use the crease more,depth of the crease.

The obsession with S/R is forcing our players to play shots in the air to accelerate...

Kohli can scores at a high S/R while playing all the shots along the ground but other have to take the aerial route to do the same.

Pujara's first innings dismissal can attribute to high S/R obsession.

[Tibarn]

He should play more defensive at the start of his innings and ignore the S/R nonsense. There is always plenty of time to up the rate of scoring. He needs to work with Amre on his defensive technique vs spin. 

[fineleg]

I dont think there is any memo sent out on "up your S/R" to all batsmen (if there is such memo, Kumble and Kohli should cancel that memo). I think Rahane is out of sorts and needs to work with a batting coach to sort it out. And he needs to watch his own innings in SA, Australia, just watch and derive confidence from it. Wont be a bad idea to take some time away from glare of Intl matches and go back to domestics for 2-3 matches to rectify this. He can slot back in once he has the confidence of runs under his belt in domestics.

Edited December 1, 2016 by fineleg

[Sidhoni]

Out of form. That's all.

[sourab10forever]

10 minutes ago, Sidhoni said:

Out of form. That's all.

Agreed. Every player goes through it . It's a combination of two or more problem. Rahane is a technically sound player so he doesn't have to make any changes to his technique. No use of reading too much into this. He will come good.

[rkt.india]

He got out to pace in both innings in Vizag, so, it is not just a problem against spin. 

[express bowling]

I feel the reasons are --

•  Loss of form in the last 2 test series, ( despite scoring a 188.... that innings was a scratchy one )
• He has some technical problems playing spin bowlers on low and slow tracks. Needs to work on this aspect with the batting coach and practice long hours against Ashwin, Jaddu and Mishra ( 3 types of spinners ) in the nets.  He is a very good test batsman and will surely overcome this weakness.
• He is not comfortable playing even pace on low and slow tracks.  Practice on such tracks is the only way to rectify this. Not that difficult.

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by express bowling

[rkt.india]

7 hours ago, _ramkumar said:

 

The obsession with S/R is forcing our players to play shots in the air to accelerate...

Kohli can scores at a high S/R while playing all the shots along the ground but other have to take the aerial route to do the same.

Pujara's first innings dismissal can attribute to high S/R obsession.

Rahane has not got out to any aerial shot. He is missing the line of the ball while defending. He keeps lunging on the front foot spin. Spin is better played off the back foot on slow pitches unless it is pitched very full.

[rkt.india]

2 hours ago, Sidhoni said:

Out of form. That's all.

last test versus NZ scored a 100. How can he suddenly go out of form?

[rkt.india]

3 hours ago, fineleg said:

I dont think there is any memo sent out on "up your S/R" to all batsmen (if there is such memo, Kumble and Kohli should cancel that memo). I think Rahane is out of sorts and needs to work with a batting coach to sort it out. And he needs to watch his own innings in SA, Australia, just watch and derive confidence from it. Wont be a bad idea to take some time away from glare of Intl matches and go back to domestics for 2-3 matches to rectify this. He can slot back in once he has the confidence of runs under his belt in domestics.

Innings from SA-Aus wont help when playing in India. Aus pitches were absolute pattas last time except Gabba to some extent which had a bit of pace and bounce.

[Texan]

8 hours ago, _ramkumar said:

Ajinkya Rahane has been described as the future of indian cricket a numerous times along with Kohli. His compact technique, range of shots and most importantly temperament has made him a vital cog in our test team. Rahane along with Kohli and Vijay were the biggest positives to come out of our overseas tour to SA, Eng & Aus. Indian home season is a opportune moment to put up big scores and improve career stats.

But his recent struggles against NZ (ODI's) and the subsequent dip in form vs England is worrying because when he fails we throw away the advantage earned by the top order. There is also a talk in ICF's threads that Rahane has a 'weakness against spin'. So I turned to the stats see what they say about Rahane's perceived weakness.

I did find a article verifying a decline in batting average vs spin since 2012 but its outdated (nov2015) and doesn't give us individual batsman's data. So i dived into cricinfo's data pool to fish out something useful.

At 3rd and 4th innings in Asia Rahane averages 36.90 which is lower than you expect but not inferior. But when India bats second in Asia he averages a dismal 8.28 which is shocker. So i checked whether he under performs when India bats second overseas too, he averages a staggering 76.00. 

 

His career average has dropped from 51.37 at the beginning of this series to 47.33. Now lets us see how Rahane fares when compared to other contemporary Indian players while batting second in Asia.

 

Every Indian batsmen out performs Rahane even Rohit (those numbers are against WI).

Why there is dip in his performance when India bats second is a mystery. Is it scorecard pressure or loss in confidence due to LOIs performance or technical weakness against spin or lack of temperament and careless batting against spin only time will tell.

He has worked hard  to seal his spot in the test side and there is no insecurity to it. A clear-cut anomaly exists in his stats but it is manageable. A couple of good innings should amend those stats. A inform Rahane is not only advantageous to Team India but also treat to watch for the fans.

I like reading your OPs. They are very analytical and detailed. To me, it looks like these are just anomalies that he should get corrected over time. He has shown in the past that he can bounce back from a lean trot.

 

[express bowling]

One interesting thing is.....Rahane is still our 2nd best test batsman in terms of averages, in the last one year, after Kohli.  ( 1st stats )

 

Even at home, he has been our 3rd best test batsman in terms of averages, in the last year,  after Kohli and Pujara.  ( 2nd stats )

 

 

Overall figures

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
V Kohli	11	18	2	1097	211	68.56	1869	58.69	3	3	0	125	1
AM Rahane	11	17	4	880	188	67.69	1790	49.16	4	2	1	85	14
CA Pujara	10	16	1	815	124	54.33	1709	47.68	3	4	0	102	3
R Ashwin	11	13	0	601	118	46.23	1259	47.73	2	4	0	66	2
KL Rahul	5	7	0	316	158	45.14	517	61.12	1	1	1	38	4
WP Saha	10	13	3	390	104	39.00	833	46.81	1	2	1	39	4
RA Jadeja	8	13	4	323	90	35.88	508	63.58	0	2	1	30	10
M Vijay	9	15	0	400	126	26.66	1008	39.68	1	2	1	45	5

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;orderby=batting_average;qualmin1=300;qualval1=runs;spanmax1=01+Dec+2016;spanmin1=01+Dec+2015;spanval1=span;team=6;template=results;type=batting

 

 

Overall figures

Player	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
V Kohli	7	14	2	846	211	70.50	1471	57.51	2	3	0	97	0
CA Pujara	7	14	1	753	124	57.92	1483	50.77	3	4	0	98	3
AM Rahane	7	13	2	637	188	57.90	1268	50.23	3	1	1	62	11
RG Sharma	4	7	2	239	82	47.80	374	63.90	0	3	1	23	5
RA Jadeja	7	11	4	301	90	43.00	478	62.97	0	2	1	29	9
R Ashwin	7	9	0	366	72	40.66	684	53.50	0	4	0	48	1
WP Saha	6	9	3	185	58*	30.83	388	47.68	0	2	1	20	3
M Vijay	7	14	0	393	126	28.07	982	40.02	1	2	1	44	5

 

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;home_or_away=1;orderby=batting_average;qualmin1=150;qualval1=runs;spanmax1=01+Dec+2016;spanmin1=01+Dec+2015;spanval1=span;team=6;template=results;type=batting

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by express bowling

[CoverDrive]

5 hours ago, Sidhoni said:

Out of form. That's all.

thats what i think. He had a good run and recently has been having some bad games. Many players go through this after they initially break big. 

 

Though he would want to do better against spin. Pujara and Kohli are clearly better at play spin compared to him

[Sidhoni]

3 hours ago, rkt.india said:

last test versus NZ scored a 100. How can he suddenly go out of form?

Even there he had to struggle for his runs at the start with NZ bowling short at him.

[MCcricket]

Rahane if wise will work on his game against spin on slow n low tracks , use the depth of crease n not just over rely on front foot play.

Against pacers he has an issue with varying bounce n then cannot execute his cross bat strokes that he likes, also with DRS batters R coming to terms with hit on pads n given out regardless of how forward you are, he has to work on this things plus be positive n leave behind odi failures

[Samcric]

6 hours ago, rkt.india said:

Rahane has not got out to any aerial shot. He is missing the line of the ball while defending. He keeps lunging on the front foot spin. Spin is better played off the back foot on slow pitches unless it is pitched very full.

He got out playing on the back-foot against spin in the first test. Then could not read Rashid's googly in the 3rd test. To me, he is not able to judge length properly or with any conviction. Should trust his technique and try to play with a straight bat when going back. And watch Rashid's hand carefully for the googly. Pujara and Kohli have picked it well so they can also help him.

 

His dismissals in the 2nd test, where he edged out-swingers on 4th,5th stumps should not be such a problem if he can just leave balls outside offstump early in his innings.

 

Overall, I am not too worried about Rahane in terms of weakness to a particular ball. In fact, more worrying is Vijay's weakness against the short ball on off-stump for which he can't keep his gloves down.

[Malcolm Merlyn]

His ODI failures affecting his test form.

[maniac]

An established player might get complacent or on the other hand a non-established player might have the butterflies and be jittery....Rahane is neither....He will score a 100 on a minefield or on a green track but might score a pair on flat pattas....still doesn't have the confidence to cash in on good form,poor bowling,flat surfaces etc.

 

Great player to have in the team but about time he starts showing some damn consistency