WTC Final: Unfair to put pressure on Ajinkya Rahane, he is a wonderful team man: MSK Prasad

Former India wicketkeeper MSK Prasad has said it is unfair to put pressure on Ajinkya Rahane by discussing his performances in the recent past, saying the Indian Test vice-captain is a wonderful team man.

Although Rahane has been a tad inconsistent with the bat of late, Prasad is certain that the team management will not take 'any drastic decision' when it comes to his place in the side ahead of the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

The top two Test sides, India and New Zealand are set to face off in the WTC final at the Rose Bowl, Southampton, starting June 18.

In the ongoing 2019-21 WTC, Rahane is the leading run-scorer among the Indian batsmen, having scored 1,095 runs in 17 Tests at an average of 43.80. In 28 innings, Rahane has amassed three tons and six half-centuries. After scoring a memorable century in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) last year, Rahane has had four single-digit scores and one fifty-plus score in as many as six Tests.

Ahead of the WTC final and the subsequent five-match Test series against hosts England, Rahane has the ability to deliver at crucial moments and the way he led India in the absence of Virat Kohli Down Under is the testimony to that fact, according to MSK Prasad.

"I think he is too good a player to start with. Of course, he has gone through lots of ups and downs but whenever the team has been in trouble, he rises to the occasion. He has that potential. The graph is a little up and down but I don't foresee any drastic decision being taken by team management," Prasad told cricket.com in an interview.

"He will come back strongly. He is a wonderful team-man and everybody likes him a lot. Whenever Virat hasn't played a big innings, this man has stepped up. We must not forget how he delivered as a captain and a player in Australia when many seniors were absent. He is a proven player and his overseas record is far superior to many of the Indian players and maybe at home, he has struggled a bit. We should not be putting unnecessary pressure on him," added Prasad in the same interview.

The Indian team reached the UK on June 3, two weeks ahead of the summit clash against New Zealand. While the Kiwis are currently playing England in a two-match Test series, the Indians are in a managed quarantine in Southampton. Earlier this week, the players had begun to train individually.