'The more you are in this situation, the worse it will get': Zaheer gives valuable advice to struggling Ajinkya Rahane

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan suggest that Ajinkya Rahane should turn towards domestic cricket for a while to regain form and confidence.

Former India pacer Zaheer Khan has opined that it is high time that India give Ajinkya Rahane a break from international cricket. The right-hander has been going through a very lean patch currently and with a duck in the second innings of the fourth Test at The Oval, Zaheer feels it's best for Rahane to return to domestic cricket for a while.

Ajinkya Rahane (L), former India pacer Zaheer Khan (R) (HT Collage)

The former India pacer also added that the more Rahane tries to snap out of the poor run, the worse it will get for him. So far in seven innings in four games, Rahane has only scored 109 runs at an average of 15.57.

"It's all form based. You'll have to go back, analyze and work hard, and then only you can move ahead... It's important to pull such a player out of the pressure zone and give him a chance [to improve]. We say this in Hindi that the more you try to force yourself out of the swamp, the more you get trapped in it.

"At such a moment, other than just technical things, you have then overcome all the mental pressure as well. The more you are in this situation, the more [poor] knocks that'll go beside your name, the worse it will get for you," Zaheer Khan said in a post-Lunch interaction with Cricbuzz.

Zaheer then went on to suggest that Rahane should turn towards domestic cricket for a while to regain form and confidence, saying:

"When you are in a purple patch you should try and play as many games as possible. But, similarly, when you are struggling to gain form, it's imperative to take a few steps back, see everything from a wider lens... if you want to play first-class cricket, do that because the pressure there is relatively less and you can try new things."

The second innings was a golden chance for Rahane to get back in touch. Except for a fighting 61 during the Lord's Test, Rahane hasn't been able to get going. On Sunday, he fell for an eight-ball duck.

Courtesy of Rohit Sharma (127), Shardul Thakur (60), Rishabh Pant (50), and KL Rahul (46), India posted a mammoth 446 in the second innings to set England a target of 368.