The Kolkata Knight Riders skipper, Ajinkya Rahane, reacted unpleasantly when he was asked about his strike rate during a press conference. After two consecutive defeats in the season against the Mumbai Indians and the Sunrisers Hyderabad, a reporter asked questions regarding his relatively low strike-rate, to which Ajinkya Rahane responded that the critics worried about his strike-rate are just jealous of him. However, the former Kings XI Punjab opener, Virender Sewhag, suggested that the reaction was unnecessary.
"They don't like me playing and don't like to watch me play. The amount of success I've got, I guess they're jealous about that." said Ajinkya Rahane, when being asked about the opinion of critics regarding his slow strike rate.
Ajinkya Rahane is a player and captain who is known for his calm temperament as he has captained the Indian side on several occasions. This specific response from Ajinkya Rahane was unexpected and it could also have occurred due to the frustration of losing back to back games.
Virender Sehwag Urges Ajinkya Rahane to Follow Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar
Virender Sewhag feels that some questions that are asked in press conferences are to provoke you or to get an impactful headline for their respective publications. Ajinkya Rahane was asked regarding the usage of Cameron Green as a bowler and to that he told the press to ask this question to the Australian Cricketing Board. Sewhag added that people will criticise you or praise you for your style of batting and that he will have to take a neutral stand on this matter. Ajinkya Rahane as a skipper of an IPL franchise has no need to engage in such fights and he should be able to silence his critics with his performance.
"They seem to be answering the critics, but even Bachchan saab (Amitabh Bachchan) never answered his critics. There couldn't be a bigger example than Tendulkar; one newspaper had even written 'Endulkar'; So, I feel one should keep quiet. Score a century and everyone will be quiet. Keep calm and do your work. What else? I don't think these things require an answer," said Virender Sewhag on responding to critics.
The former India opener advised Ajinkya Rahane to follow the paths of the greats like Amitabh Bachchan and Sachin Tendulkar, for the manner in which they responded to critics. He believes that Ajinkya Rahane should put his head down and work even harder as such critical claims may not even deserve an answer. These criticisms also tend to change with just one solid performance and they don’t last for long. Rahane will be hoping that he can lead the side to a couple of victories from the next game as they have only acquired one point in the season so far.
