Former India opener Wasim Jaffer believes that the absence of Virat Kohli hurt India the most in the second test in Johannesburg as South Africa beat the visitors by 7 wickets to level the series by 1-1.
Jaffer said that Rahane should have captained the side as he had more experience as compared to KL Rahul who made his captaincy debut in Johannesburg. Rahane led India in 6 Test matches as Indian remained unbeaten in all of those games which included 4 wins. Rahane famously led India to victory in Border Gavaskar Trophy when Virat Kohli returned to India for paternity leave.
Virat Kohli is likely to be available for Cape Town Test
“I am surprised by the team management. When you have someone as good as Ajinkya Rahane available who has not lost any Test as a captain and won you a Test series in Australia, do you need to give the Test captaincy to KL Rahul?” Wasim Jaffer spoke to Inside Sport.
Rahane was removed from vice-captaincy before this tour as the Mumbai batter’s form had been below par. Rohit Sharma was appointed as vice-captain but he missed out on the tour due to injury so the BCCI appointed KL Rahul as Virat’s deputy.
“I have nothing against KL Rahul. He is young and has captained the Punjab Kings. People are thinking about him as a future captain. But I think Rahane should have led the side in Kohli’s absence,” he stated.
Jaffer pointed out that India missed Kohli’s energy as bowlers were going through the motions when things were not happening for them on day-4. On the 4th day, the hosts lost just one wicket in form of Rassie Van der Dussen as captain Dean Elgar (96*) and Temba Bavuma take them home.
“India definitely missed Virat Kohli, the captain, because he brings so much aggression to the field. When you have such a player on the field, you know you will be held accountable if you make a mistake. So, they missed that energy,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rahul Dravid said that Virat Kohli would like to be fit for the 3rd Test match at Cape Town starting on January 11. Earlier India beat the hosts by 113 runs in the first test at Centurion to take the lead of 1-0. India never won a Test series before in the rainbow nation. Also, they never won a Test match at Cape Town before so it will be an uphill task for them to turn things around.
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