Ishant Sharma has described India’s deputy leader Ajinkya Rahane as a “bowler’s captain.” Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in last three Tests as regular skipper Virat Kohli heads home to attend the birth of 1st child.
Virat Kohli is an aggressive captain and Ajinkya Rahane maintains a calm composure as his deputy, as India always had a fire-ice combination in Test matches. However, now the fire has gone home on paternity leave, it’s time for the ice to take over the captaincy full-time.
Ishant Sharma: Ajinkya Rahane Is A Bowler’s Captain Who Asks Bowlers Type Of Field To Set And When To Bowl
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Indian pacer Ishant Sharma who is not part of Test squad in Australian series explained why he thinks Ajinkya Rahane is a bowler’s captain.
“I must say he’s a bowler’s captain. Whenever we have played together and Virat has not been around on the field, Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane’s nickname) always asked me ‘what kind of field you want, when you want to bowl just tell me, if you want to go on (bowling)’. So I think he’s a bowler’s captain.”
The next three Test matches will showcase a lot about Ajinkya Rahane’s personality. He had led previously in 2 Tests one against Australia and another against Afghanistan and India have won both matches at home though. Ajinkya Rahane has played 66 Tests and scored 4245 runs averaging 42.45 with 11 tons.
Ishant Sharma: Ajinkya Rahane Is Quiet But Confident
Melbourne and Sydney are two of the most daunting grounds for captains. Here, batsmen pile runs for fun as the pitches support them. Being on the field in sweltering heat for days lowers the enthusiasm of the players, so the captain’s role thus becomes even more important.
Ishant Sharma added that Ajinkya Rahane is quiet, but confident in what he does.
“You can see what kind of person he is in his captaincy. He is very quiet, obviously, he is very confident. He is very calm as well. I can’t say he does not have a sense of humor. He jokes around with us. But he is very confident in what he wants to do.”
Ishant Sharma said Ajinkya Rahane is not only calm and composed, but he is also very clear about his goals and processes while captaining and as vice-captain to Virat Kohli.
“He’s not someone who’ll say: do this or do that. Even when Virat’s there he asks me every single time ‘how many overs you want to bowl so I will speak to Virat.’ He is very clear about what he wants from his team,” Ishant Sharma said.
Ajinkya Rahane’s toughest captaincy assignment yet will begin on Boxing Day (December 26) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground which will be his first match as captain overseas.
India won the Test series in the previous tour in 2018-19 by 2-1 and must play well and try to win in Melbourne and Sydney as it is tough to win at Brisbane where Australia have won 40 in 62 matches and lost only 8.
India lost the 1st Test as they registered their lowest ever Test score of 36 in 2nd innings despite having an upper hand by virtue of 1st innings lead at the end of 2nd day. But the 3rd day’s performance reversed fortunes as Australia won by 8 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the 4 match Test series.
Virat Kohli’s absence and Mohammad Shami’s injury adds to India’s concerns but India will look to make amends as they may bring 5 changes by handing over test debuts to Shubman Gill, Mohammad Siraj besides including Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.