Ajinkya Rahane’s coach Pravin Amre has stated that Rahane is reaping fruitful results of his immense preparation ahead of the ongoing Test series against Australia.
Ajinkya Rahane, who is carrying the captain’s duty in the Test series because of Virat Kohli’s absence, scored a gritty century in the second Test in MCG, which was his second century in this venue. His hundred helped India to get a significant lead and resulted in a great comeback after the forgetful loss in the opening match.
Ajinkya Rahane practice two sessions instead of one: Pravin Amre
Pravin Amre revealed that the stand-in Indian captain had well planned his practice session in the lockdown forced due to COVID-19. He stated Rahane practised for two sessions and worked harder than ever.
“We don’t think about multiple tours at one time. We try to be in that one tour, (take) one tour at a time and try to give best in that basically. And that is what Ajinkya did,” Amre, himself a former India player, told PTI.
“This year (2020), especially, we have to give credit to him (Rahane) because most of the time as coaches we plan the sessions and practice; but this (time in) particular, in this difficult time of Covid, he planned his own sessions, worked hard, basically harder than before, because he used to practice two sessions instead of one.
Amre said that the meticulous preparation has resulted in his success in the high profile series.
“But those are the things… small small things he worked (on), he visualised this is going to be my preparation for this tough of Australia. And any success can’t come just like (that), we know preparation is important,” said Amre, who played in 11 Tests and 37 ODIs.
As far as captaincy is considered, the coach believes that all the credits for leading from the front go to Ajinkya Rahane. He feels that coaches don’t teach players about the captaincy.
As per him, Rahane’s calm and composed nature has helped him to handle the situation and get tactics right on the field.
“That credit (of captaincy) is for Ajinkya only because as a coach we never work on things like captaincy, we work mainly on the batting side of the game. “When the opportunity came to lead, it is all his credit. Handling the situation wasn’t easy but credit goes to him because of his calm nature also. He is calm and composed and that is the reason he was successful as captain,” he said.
Amre highlights that Ajinkya Rahane has been smart enough to utilise the bowlers. He rates his disciples’ captaincy very high because he restored the pride that India has lost in the first Test.
“I personally rate (it) very high. Because it is like sometimes you play for yourself to survive in the team, this is like survival of Team India in Australia, because we wanted to win (restore) the pride, what we lost in the first Test,” he said
Ajinkya Rahane will lead Team India in the third Test in Sydney. Rohit Sharma has joined him as the vice-captain.