Rahane setting the world benchmark

Here's a trivia question for all the cricket stats aficionados out there: name the two current batsmen who average more than 50 in Tests away from home.

If you guessed Steve Smith, still the world's top-ranked batsman despite being suspended, you'd be right. The Australian averages 50.96 in Tests outside Australia and has scored hundreds in England, India, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and the West Indies.

But you'd have to look a long way down the ICC's rankings to find the second player to average more than 50 abroad.

It's not Virat Kohli, nor Joe Root, nor even Kane Williamson, who all average 45-plus away from home and along with Smith are rightly regarded as the best four batsmen in the game today.

You'd have to go all the way down to No.19 to find India's vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, whose Test average away from home of 52.05 is better than anyone's in the world, including Smith's.

And it's not a statistical anomaly, either. Rahane, who averages just 32 from 20 Tests in India, has scored hundreds in Tests in Wellington, London, Melbourne and Kingston, and fell four runs short of three figures in Durban in 2013, to go with two tons in more familiar conditions in Colombo.

So while the focus heading into the first of five Tests against England this week has been on skipper Kohli and out-of-form duo Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara, the quietly-spoken Rahane looms as a key barometer for India's success or otherwise over the next month.

"I enjoy the challenges of playing abroad," the 30-year-old said.

"Here in England the ball does a bit and in Australia and New Zealand there's bounce. And in New Zealand, again, it does a bit.

"In England, patience is the key. It depends on the weather; if it's sunny, it's very good to bat but if it gets cloudy, it's good for the bowlers."

Despite Rahane's strong Test record abroad, the past 12 months have been one of the toughest periods of his career.

Since the second of those two hundreds in Colombo a year ago, the right-hander has scored more than 20 just once in nine Test innings, a form slump so bad that he was even dropped on the tour of South Africa six months ago.

And he's hardly a dominant force in UK conditions, either; his crucial hundred in India's famous win at Lord's four years was his only three-figure score in that five-Test campaign, his scores of 54 and 52no in the third match of the series his only other performances of substance on tour.

But having top-scored with 48 in the second innings of his return Test in Johannesburg in January, the man who replaced him in the side for the first two Tests - one-day superstar Rohit Sharma – has been left out of this squad in England altogether.

Having warmed up for England Tests with scores of 49 and 48 in a low-scoring match for India A in Worcester earlier this month, Rahane says conquering one of the biggest stumbling blocks historically for Indian batsmen – success abroad – is a mental challenge as much as a technical one.

"As a batting unit, I feel that challenging yourself and backing your own game – rather than copying someone else – is important," he said.

"And if you're set, you have to try and play a big innings. If the weather changes and you're set, it's important to hold back, respect the bowling and respect the conditions.

"But if you're really set, you should really make it count.

"I feel that in terms of skill, both teams are on a par. It will be a test of our mind and character here."

Batting average of more than 50 in away Tests
(current players, min 1000 runs)

Ajinkya Rahane - 52.05
Steve Smith - 50.96

Batting average of more than 50 in home Tests
(current players, min 1000 runs)

Steve Smith - 77.25
Virat Kohli - 63.50
Cheteshwar Pujara - 62.42
David Warner - 59.64
Usman Khawaja - 59.38
Mominul Haque - 59.03
Joe Root - 58.42
Aiden Markram - 55.55
Kane Williamson - 55.06
Ross Taylor - 54.33
Azhar Ali - 54.00
Dean Elgar - 52.07

* 'Neutral' Tests in the UAE have been classed as 'home Tests' for Pakistan batsmen and 'away Tests' for other players