India vs Australia Boxing Day Test: Ajinkya Rahane termed ‘bowler’s captain’ by THIS pacer

The Indian cricket team were humbled in the Adeladie Test against Australia as they were bowled out for 36, the team’s lowest total in their 88-year history. The team head into the Melbourne Test low on confidence and with some key players missing. Mohammed Shami has been ruled out for six weeks and that has put him out of the four-Test series. Virat Kohli will miss the remainder of the series as he is on paternity leave and has returned back to India to be with his wife Anushka Sharma as the couple expect the birth of their child in January first week. With Kohli’s absence, the Indian cricket team captaincy has fallen on Ajinkya Rahane and he will be leading the side for the Tests in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

Ajinkya Rahane has had success in captaincy for India. In 2017, Ajinkya Rahane was made the captain after Virat Kohli injured himself prior to the Dharamshala Test against Australia. In the decider, it was Rahane’s calm captaincy that gave India the win. In the 2018 Test against Afghanistan, Ajinkya Rahane captained India to a win in two days as they registsred a big win.

Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Ishant Sharma, who is not part of the tour as he has not been passed fit by the NCA, has said Ajinkya Rahane’s calming influence will help India immensely. “The kind of energy Virat brings to the table ... not everyone can match that.

"Jinx (Rahane) spreads calm energy in a pressure situation. There won’t be any tension, he`d communicate with the bowlers very well,” Ishant Sharma said.

A bowler’s captain

Ishant Sharma, who will have to wait until February in order to play his 100^th Test and take 300 wickets, has said that Rahane is a bowler’s captain who knows how to break the partnership and how to utilize his bowlers well.

“He’s very confident and I must say he`s a bowler’s captain. We’ve played so many times together. Whenever Virat was not there, he’d ask me ‘What kind of field you want? When you want to bowl? Do you want to go on (bowling)?’ He’s not someone who’d say ‘do this or do that’. If there’s a partnership growing and it`s a flat phase when fielders are just going through their motions, one player`s energy level can change the scenario,” Ishant Sharma said.