Rahane looks for bagful of runs in 100th Test between India and West Indies
The Hindu
There is a strong chance that India will again bat only once and Rahane will need to make it count with Shreyas Iyer.
Ajinkya Rahane will be aiming to pile on the runs to extend his international career and lead India to a series sweep against a feeble West Indies when the second and final Test begins here on Thursday.
The game will mark the 100th Test between the two teams and though India skipper Rohit Sharma said it will be a big occasion, his team will be expected to dominate the West Indies like it did in the series opener in Dominica.
After the game at the Queen's Park Oval, India play their next Test only on the tour of South Africa in December-January, leaving the likes of Rahane one more opportunity to make it extremely hard for selectors to overlook him for the away series against the Proteas.
In his first Test in 18 months, which happened to be the World Test Championships final last month, Rahane was the stand out India batter but he would be ruing the missed opportunity on a slow and turning pitch in Dominica where the visitors needed to bat only once.
There is a strong chance that India will again bat only once and Rahane will need to make it count with Shreyas Iyer, who is undergoing rehab after a back surgery, expected to be available for the South Africa tour.
Batting coach Vikram Rathour said in the lead up to the game that India would need an in-form Rahane for the South African sojourn.
"When it comes to technique, you constantly work on that but what stood out for me that he was much more calm in his approach. He was playing late and close to the body. He is still batting the same way in the nets.