Some teams in the Asia Cup may grudge India's latest batting jewel. Captains will probably give an arm to have Ajinkya Rahane in their Test side. But Rahane, like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ambati Rayudu, is still seeking endorsement of his ODI game.
You need him at 30 for four. But he's also the one his opponents would want in the middle should India get off to an explosive start in Bangladesh. Bowl a few quiet overs to Rahane, see him scratch around in power-plays, tease out a false shot, and get a window to blast out India's lower-order. That seemed New Zealand's ploy against Rahane in the recent ODI series - Brendon McCullum will wink!
You reflect on his ODI numbers. Twenty-three matches; average of 22.30; something doesn't feel right. But these 23 games are spread over three years during which he has batted at one, three and four.
You reflect on the way he gets out. Steve Finn breached his defences in the home one-dayers in January last year. There were some soft dismissals in New Zealand where he looked settled in but couldn't play, what you would call, that 'impact' innings.
You reflect on his game. Where Rahane is concerned, adjectives are used carefully. He doesn't have the liquid wrists of Virat Kohli, the bat speed of Rohit Sharma or the versatility of Shikhar Dhawan. Virat imposes his personality on the opponents, Rohit dictates scripts, and there's a sense of joie de vivre in Shikhar's attitude even when India are chasing 359. Rahane's deadpan visage in ODIs - he seems like a frustrated accountant whose balance sheet isn't tallying - is hard to explain. Often it appears he's slightly unsure of his role - grind or attack?
"He must be given space to grow," feels Praveen Amre, Rahane's mentor and coach. "To be a sound ODI bat, you must have the mix of both Test and T20 batting. I was the coach when he blasted 186 against Maharashtra in a one-dayer five years back. He has the ingredients to evolve. He must learn the art of taking calculated risks and also focus on singles and on strike rotation."
Rahane need only to remember the struggles Rahul Dravid had to endure before reinventing himself as a one-day player and ending up with more than 10,000 ODI runs. Perhaps a word with his role model, Dravid, will help.
Dravid's initial ODI game - planting the front foot way down the pitch and barely able to find gaps - seldom made for pleasant viewing. Axed from the ODI group, he returned a much better player for the 1999 World Cup. As a veteran writer notes: "Dravid discovered aspects of himself that may have remained hidden but for the dictates of the one-day game. He gradually freed himself from the shackles of excessive orthodoxy and began playing a more creative game, secure in the knowledge that you must first master the rules before you can attempt to break them."
Rahane has his own strengths; and at the risk of offending pundits it could be said that he has more shots in his store as opposed to Dravid's first version as a one-day batsman. Not for him the biffs to mid-wicket. He still prefers the hitting range between covers and mid-off, though the IPL has widened his shot repertoire.
And didn't he wow with his flexibility of feet and short-arm pulls on his T20i debut in Manchester? And let's not forget his value on the field - a wicket-taking fielder, he's easily worth 12 runs.
When Dravid's ODI career took off in 1996-97, he was part of unit that essentially had wilting violets. Rahane belongs to a group of world champions with whom his skills can only blossom. It is hoped that his ODI game will come into bud in less-demanding conditions in the Asia Cup. The opportunity is his for the taking.
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