Impressed by Ajinkya Rahane's comeback, Ricky Ponting suggests methods to cement his place

Ajinkya Rahane was dropped from the Indian test squad in January 2022.

Indian middle order batter Ajinkya Rahane made his test comeback after 18 months and was in line to smash a test ton after 30 months gap. Ajinkya Rahane scored 89 runs in the first innings against Australia at The Oval in the World Test Championship Final. Rahane’s comeback has been noted by many in Indian cricket. Coming in as a replacement for Shreyas Iyer’s injury Rahane has made a positive impact as number 5 for the Indian cricket team. Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has also praised Ajinkya Rahane after his innings and 109 runs partnership with Shardul Thakur which brought India out of crisis in the Big Final. 

Punter's suggestions to Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane must be looking to cement his place now in the Indian test team and Australian legend Ricky Ponting has explained how Rahane can be part of the Indian team for long in red-ball cricket, despite having too much competition for just one place. After his 89 runs knock, Ponting said, “He has made the most of his opportunity and that is all you can do. I think there are two more test matches in the West Indies after this before KL Rahul and Iyer are back, so he has got a real opportunity to prolong his test career for another couple of years”. Along with Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hanuma Vihari and a few others are the options available for Team India. 

Ricky Ponting also praised Rahane’s effort in the game and his preparations. He added, “He is a lovely guy, and a mild-mannered guy, and someone who is one of the most disciplined cricketers I have ever worked with. He is always the first one at training… I am really happy to see him back out there and playing and when he just plays like that you start to wonder why he wasn’t part of the India squad for two years”. Ajinkya Rahane was dropped from the Indian squad after the South Africa tour in January 2022. Rahane made a great comeback through his performance in the Domestic circuit as well as in the Indian Premier League for CSK.