WTC Final 2023 | How Has Ajinkya Rahane Performed At The Oval?

image-licy25lqAjinkya Rahane in Test cricket for India (Twitter)

Ajinkya Rahane is back in Indian Test side! He was left out of the Indian Test setup after India's tour of South Africa and played his last Test match at Cape Town against South Africa. Rahane's Test career has been full of ups and downs and he was the vice-captain of India for almost five years and even led India to a famous series win in Australia in 2021.

However, the consistency he achieved at the start of his career went down steadily in the latter half of his career and eventually Rahane was dropped from the side.

Rahane though showed his class in the Ranji Trophy 2022-23 and in 7 games, the Mumbai skipper smashed 634 runs with a double century and a average of 57.63. He also batted fluently in the IPL 2023 and that brought him back into the fold for WTC final as Shreyas Iyer  was injured.

So, with WTC final to be played at the Kennington Oval, let's now see how Ajinkya Rahane has performed at the famous Oval Stadium.

Tests Played By Rahane at the Kennington Oval

Rahane has played three Test matches at Oval in 2014, 2018 and 2021. However, his performances have been below par in all three Test matches and he has scored just 55 runs in 6 innings.

In those 6 innings, Rahane has three ducks while his highest score being 37 at the Oval. It came in the second innings of a Test match in 2018.

Pacers vs Spinners - Who got the better of Ajinkya Rahane most times at Oval?

In the six innings, Ajinkya Rahane was outclassed by pacers five times while on one occasion, Moeen Ali - the off-spinner got the better of Rahane. So, the biggest threat for Rahane will be the pace battery of Australia in WTC and let's see if he can tackle that threat and deliver a strong performance this time around at the Oval.

Ajinkya Rahane vs Australia

In 17 matches Rahane has played against Australia, he has scored 1090 runs with an average of 37.58 with two centuries in five fifties. However, those knocks have been played in Australia and India. So, this will be a different challenge for Rahane and he needs to be at his best against the Aussies in English conditions.

Final Prediction

Ajinkya Rahane has a good technique for swinging conditions and has shown that in past, though his overall record is not promising. He, however, needs to show more patience than he was showing in the later half of his career and if he applies himself, like he did in the 2014 England tour, Rahane could make a big difference in the WTC final.