Ravi Shastri has to sit with Ajinkya Rahane, even great players need motivation: says Maninder Singh

India’s head coach Ravi Shastri should meet with the team’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and remind him how good he is, former spinner Maninder Singh said.

“I think there is going to be a lot of talk. Ravi Shastri is a good motivator and he has motivated this Indian team really well. That is why, probably, if you see their record since he has become coach, it has been pretty good.

“I would be expecting Ravi Shastri to be a little over-active. Ajinkya Rahane has played 80-odd Test matches. But Shastri can’t think that he has played 80 Tests so he knows his job,” Maninder said on ESPNCricinfo.

Rahane has scored just 95 runs thus far at an average of 19 in the five innings he has batted in the five-match Test series. Sixty-one of those runs came in one innings as part of a 100-run partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara at Lord’s in the second Test.

In the Headingley Test, which India lost by an innings and 76 runs on Saturday, Rahane was dismissed for 18 and 10 in the two innings.

“Sometimes, even great players need to be motivated. You need to sit with them, maybe take him out for dinner or something. You need to keep telling Rahane that he has done it before, he can do it again, and that he has got to be in a positive frame of mind. That is one department where all coaches need to be proactive,” explained Maninder.

“Ajinkya Rahane has been very tentative and I really don’t know why. His average abroad is much higher than his average on Indian pitches. He has always scored runs. I don’t know what’s gone wrong where. But I don’t see him getting dropped or anything. Can’t see any change as far as the batting line-up is concerned,” he said.

Maninder said the only change he can see happening for the Indian team going into the Oval Test that starts on September 2 is Ishant Sharma getting replaced by a spinner or someone like Shardul Thakur.

“The only place that I can see a change in the Indian side is, probably, Ishant Sharma might go out and they might get a spinner in or, maybe, Shardul Thakur. That’s the only change I can see going into the next Test match. Rahane is going to stay.”