Gautam Gambhir, former Indian batsman has a piece of advice for stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane ahead of the Boxing Day Test, starting on Saturday at the MCG.
Seasoned batsman and India’s vice-captain in Tests Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in the remainder of the matches of the 4-match series in the absence of Virat Kohli who is homebound to attend 1st child’s birth. Hosts Australia are already 1-0 ahead of the 2nd Test in Melbourne, starting on Saturday, and Ajinkya Rahane will have a lot of burden on his shoulders.
Gautam Gambhir Advices Ajinkya Rahane Not To Change Personality Overnight
Virat Kohli is known for his on-field aggression, while Ajinkya Rahane is cool and calm. In this regard, former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has a piece of advice for Ajinkya Rahane as he takes up the captaincy of the team in the last 3 Tests. According to the former opener, Ajinkya Rahane does not need to change his personality and, in fact, showcase aggression in his own way.
“See, one thing is you don’t change your personality overnight and you don’t need to change your personality. There are different captains, there are different personalities who have led their sides in a completely different way. Ajinkya can’t be Virat Kohli, Virat Kohli can’t be MS Dhoni and MS Dhoni could never be Sourav Ganguly. So all these guys have been successful captains,” Gambhir told Sports Today YouTube in an exclusive interview.
“So be the way you are and one change that I would definitely want to see is Ajinkya Rahane coming and batting at No. 4 because that is what would send a message that ‘I’m leading from the front’.”
Ajinkya Rahane had previously led India earlier in 2 Tests against Australia and Afghanistan and India won both of them at home. This time though he will lead India for the first time overseas.
Gautam Gambhir: There Are Innumerable Ways Where One Could Lead From Front
Ahead of the Boxing Day Test against Australia, Gautam Gambhir has given Rahul Dravid’s aggressive style of captaincy as an example for Ajinkya Rahane, who could showcase his aggression as captain without showing emotions on the field. The former opener said Sourav Ganguly and Virat Kohli were emotional while Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid was aggressive in their own methods.
“It’s not about the emotions you show on the field or reacting to every wicket or reacting to every run you score and all that stuff. You’ve got many other ways of being aggressive. Your body language can be aggressive, your field placements could be aggressive, you could ask your bowlers to bowl different lengths, your batting could be different. There are so many other ways where you could lead from the front.. and people who say he wears his heart on his sleeve and all that stuff is irrelevant,” Gautam Gambhir added.
“I could never expect someone like MS Dhoni to show emotions, Dada was a bit more emotional, Virat Kohli’s a much more emotional guy. Anil Kumble was aggressive when he captained the side, Rahul Dravid was aggressive in his own way- set fields, we chased totals, so Ajinkya Rahane does not need to change anything.”
Gautam Gambhir’s full and exclusive interview will premier on Sports Today at 5 pm on December 25. India will make 4 changes in 2nd Test bringing in Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj. Virat Kohli’s absence may be felt as he is India’s most successful Test skipper with 33 Test wins in 56 matches.