Boxing Day Test: Now or never for Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane must find some form while also coping with captaincy duties in Australia
Ajinkya Rahane's graph was on the rise after the 2014-15 Test series in Australia. He was hailed as India's second-most important Test batsman after Virat Kohli. Rahane had done everything to deserve the acclaim.
A cycle of Test tours to SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia) countries - the toughest places for subcontinent batsmen to bat - had been completed, with Rahane emerging as the second-best Indian batsman.Only Kohli had slightly better performances than him.
In 13 Tests (2 in South Africa, 2 in New Zealand, 5 in England and 4 in Australia), Rahane scored 1069 runs from 25 innings and averaged 48.59. During this period, he had 3 centuries - one each in NZ, Australia and England - and 6 half-centuries to his credit.

Kohli managed 1312 runs from 26 innings at an average of 52.48, despite a horrendous Test series in England. He hit 6 centuries (4 in Australia) and 3 fifties. Rahane was considerably better than Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored 763 runs in 12 Tests (24 innings) at an average of 31.79. Pujara had a solitary century and 3 fifties to his name.
After the 2014-15 tour Down Under, India mostly played at home, annihilating opponents on spinning tracks, with the pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja doing the demolition job.
From Jan 2018, though, started another SENA cycle with South Africa being the first stop for India. Strangely, Rahane was dropped for the first two Tests in Cape Town and Centurion. The decision was taken by Kohli and the team management. The reason given was Rahane's poor form in the previous home series against Sri Lanka, where he managed just 17 runs in 3 Test matches. In the preceding series, in which India toured Lanka, Rahane had scored 229 runs at an average of 76.33 in 3 Tests.

Rahane made his comeback in the third Test in Johannesburg and immediately made an impact, scoring a counter-attacking 48 in the second innings to help India notch a face-saving win on a treacherous wicket.
Since being dropped in South Africa, Rahane's performance in SENA countries has vastly dipped. He has been a shade of what he was in the first SENA cycle. To lay down the numbers, Rahane has scored 607 runs in 12 Tests (23 innings) in England, Australia and New Zealand at an average of 26.39. He has just 4 half-centuries to his credit.
What can be the reason for such a downslide? Experts believe Rahane is a confidence player and if his confidence gets dented, he is unsure of his footwork.
Former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar suggested, "Rahane needs to practise his feet movement a lot more and work on his defensive batting technique. The small forward press against fuller balls is an issue. He must practise just one thing. Get million balls thrown at full and short of a length and make decisive feet movement. Big stride forward to full balls and right back in the crease to short balls."

Murali Kartik, meanwhile, feels, "Australia is a tough place when you are down. Their bowlers are on top. So you need to think about what you can do to not save the match, but win the match this time. Body language is going to be very important - both as a batsman and as captain."
Besides thinking about his batting, Rahane will also have the added responsibility of captaincy in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. The pressure, already escalated manifold times due the 36 all out in Adelaide, is going to be palpable.
At the start of the Test series, Kohli had said, "I feel like this is Jinks' (Rahane) time to really step up and perform strongly as an individual and then as a captain as well. I am sure he will do a great job when I'm gone."
With Kohli returning to India, now, more than ever, Rahane the captain will need Rahane the batsman to succeed in the next three Tests.