Bharat Arun, Indian bowling coach shed some light on the captaincy styles of the duo of Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli. Ajinkya Rahane’s success as captain in the Border-Gavaskar trophy has stirred up the subject of him being made permanent captain of the Indian side in the longest format. Virat Kohli though is India’s most successful Test captain and has been appointed skipper against England in 2021.
Speaking to spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on his YouTube channel, Bharat Arun highlighted the manner in which captain Ajinkya Rahane conducts himself on the field. Although there is no denying that Ajinkya Rahane has an extremely calm and composed personality, Bharat Arun said that the veteran cricketer has a ‘steely nerve in him’.
Ajinkya Rahane. Credits: Twitter.
Bharat Arun: Ajinkya Rahane Backs Players And Is A Calm Person Who Has A Steely Nerve In Him
Ajinkya Rahane has led India in 5 Tests and under him, India won 4 drawing the one at Sydney. His 80% success rate is among best for Indian captains. Being 1-0 down, losing the services of regular skipper Virat Kohli due to his paternity leave, having lost several key players due to injuries at various stages of 4 match Test series, a second-string Ajinkya Rahane-led India staged a comeback as they won their second straight Test series on Australian soil.
“When it comes to Ajinkya, he is a calm person. Rahane might look calm from the outside but there is a steely nerve in him,” Arun told India off-spinner Ravi Ashwin on his YouTube Channel.
“He backs players and looks calm and even if a bowler goes wrong, he might not be scared of the captain. He knows that he will be backed,” he added.
Virat Kohli-Image: Getty
Bharat Arun feels that regular skipper Virat Kohli is an extremely passionate person and his energy with which he operates himself on the field gets mistaken as anger.
“With Virat Kohli, if you bowl two bad balls, it might look like he will get angry, but that’s just his energy. Ajinkya brings the calmness, of course, even if he buys-in the plan, he makes sure he executes it to the T,” Arun explained.
India’s stand-in captain calm and composed Ajinkya Rahane led from the front with a match-winning knock of 112, which is his 12th Test century at Melbourne. It was his second century in Australia and one that will be among his favourite and most cherished in the heart. Under him, India won at Melbourne and Brisbane and drew at Sydney.
Bharat Arun: One Should Make Players Express Themselves
Speaking about the biggest learning learnt from the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy, Bharat Arun said that it’s important to let the players express themselves and not impose ideas on them.
“You hit the nail on the head. That has to be this tour’s biggest learning. Instead of imposing it on players, we should make them express themselves. And for anyone to express themselves, there has to be a process.”
Bharat Arun. Image Credit: Twitter.
“But to define that process and make that player agree on the same is the coach’s top priority. But full credit is to the player because, he is the one who goes there and delivers them under pressure and given the experience of our bowling attack, the pressure is immense. To perform under pressure is the challenge. And our players accomplished that challenge exceptionally well. They saw that challenge as an opportunity.”
The Indian team now gears up for another long all-format series against England which starts from February 5 with a Test at Chennai. Some players have already reached Chennai and entered the bio-secure bubble ahead of the Test series. Ahmedabad will hold the 3rd and 4th Tests after Chennai hosting first 2 Tests. 5 T20Is will also be at Ahmedabad while 3 ODIs will be at Pune.
