Rahane has to be really positive in SA, says Pravin Amre

Amre is confident that Ajinkya Rahane “will live up to people’s expectations and will deliver the goods.”

Ajinkya Rahane had good returns with the bat in his 2013 tour of South Africa.

Ajinkya Rahane has to be positive in his batting approach to succeed in South Africa, believes Pravin Amre, who himself knows a thing or two about touring the rainbow nation. Amre, who has worked with Rahane, had scored a century (103) on debut at Kingsmead, Durban, in 1992.

“For a cricketer, what has happened in the past, is history. He (Rahane) is going to South Africa and he has to be really positive. The last time he played in South Africa (in 2013), he averaged 69.67. The team management and selectors have a lot of faith in him and that is why he is the vice-captain of the team. I am sure in the coming tour, he will live up to people’s expectations and will deliver the goods,” Amre said.

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Amre, the managing committee member of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), also spoke about Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer.

On Rohit’s form

It’s not easy to score three double-hundreds in ODIs, it’s something special. I have seen him closely in the Mumbai dressing room and he has always been special. He has also scored runs in the longer format and it is just a matter of time before he comes good (in Tests).

On Shreyas Iyer

This is a different era and there is so much competition; one failure can be treated so harshly.

Sometimes this game can be so cruel. I am glad that when he got the opportunity he made it count. In his first IPL season, he was the emerging player and in the Ranji Trophy, people doubted his technique and temperament. But he scored 1300 runs in a season , the first batsman to do so in 75 years of Mumbai cricket’s history. He knows that to survive in the team he needs to perform and he is doing that. I will be happy if he gets his hundred quickly because that’s very important in today’s competitive world. But these are early days for him and I am sure on his day he can be a match-winner.

We should let him play his natural game and that was the challenge for me as a coach too. In the Mumbai team, we play in a typical fashion in the ‘V’, but we allowed him to play his natural game and I think that has worked for him.