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'When he was India captain, Dhoni didn't keep Rahane saying 'he is slow'': Sehwag's bombshell remark on CSK skipper
Virender Sehwag didn't mince his words as he talked about Ajinkya Rahane, following the batter's tremendous knock against Mumbai Indians on Saturday night.
On Saturday, Chennai Super Kings' Ajinkya Rahane produced a high-quality knock on his franchise debut against Mumbai Indians. Playing at his home ground (Wankhede Stadium), Rahane, not particularly known for his explosive hitting, stunned the crowd with an impressive range of shots as he scored 61 off just 27 deliveries, steering the Super Kings to a six-wicket win. This was CSK's second win of the season as the side jumped to fourth spot in the IPL 2023 table.
Rahane was bought by CSK in the auction preceding the 2023 season in December for his base price (INR 50 lakh), and the side's skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni revealed that he had an honest conversation with the India batter when the team began preparations for the new season in March.
“Me and Jinks (Rahane) spoke at the start of the season and I told him to play to his strengths, use your ability to manipulate the fields. I told him to go and enjoy, don't take stress. Yes, we might not be able to give you the first game, but whenever the chance comes, we'll back you,” Dhoni had said in the post-match presentation.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag, however, had a rather blunt question for Dhoni over Rahane's place in the CSK side. Rahane has played under MS Dhoni for a major part of his international cricket career, and was a regular in the side until 2018, when he lost his place in the side. Even as Virat Kohli had taken over the captaincy by then (Dhoni stepped down as India skipper in 2017), Sehwag wondered why the CSK captain needed Rahane when the latter wasn't required in ODIs because he was “slow.”
“What did he see in Ajinkya Rahane that he kept him in the IPL team, but didn't play him for India?” Sehwag asked on Cricbuzz after Rohan Gavaskar – the fellow expert – credited Dhoni for Rahane's quickfire knock.
“Players need confidence. But I'm asking captain Dhoni. When he was the captain of Indian team, he didn't keep him in one-day team, saying ‘he is slow. He can’t rotate strike'. Now, suddenly, when he needed experience, he brought in Ajinkya Rahane,” Sehwag further said.
Rahane, however, did lose his place in the Indian T20I team under Dhoni's captaincy in 2016. His appearance in the semi-final of the T20 World Cup against West Indies was Rahane's last for India in the shortest format.
