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Ajinkya Rahane as Test captain - performance watch

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Thoughts on his captaincy?

==

After being pushed against the wall after a humbling defeat in the series opener, the Indian team bounced back and dominated the opening day of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Saturday. Stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane lost the toss but the Indian bowlers were on song throughout the day and restricted the hosts for 195 all out on one of the most batting-friendly tracks in Australia. While the bowlers deserve all the praise for their hard work, the Indian skipper, who marshalled his troops with great authority, deserves an equal praise. Throughout the day, Rahane attacked with close-in fielders and made some wise bowling changes that worked wonders for the team.


Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag was among many who praised Rahane's bowing changes and "smart fielding placements". Taking to Twitter, Sehwag also praised the bowlers for job well done on Day 1 and giving India a solid start.

"Outstanding bowling changes and really smart fielding placements from Rahane. And the bowlers delivered . Ashwin, Bumrah,Siraj were absolutely brilliant. Great effort to get Australia all out for 195 on the first day. Now for the batters to get a good first innings lead #AUSvIND," Sehwag tweeted.

VVS Laxman praised the "sensational" Indian bowlers and Rahane's captaincy. Shrugging off all scars from their defeat in the first Test, the Indian players played positive cricket throughout the day and Laxman was happy to see players not carrying any baggage of the Adelaide debacle.

"Excellent days play for India. Bowlers were once again sensational, both the debutants looked confident, Rahane captained the side really well but most importantly they didn't carry the baggage of the loss from Adelaide. #INDvAUS," Laxman wrote on Twitter.

Spin-bowling great Shane Warne also praised Rahane for leading his team well in Virat Kohli's absence. The former leg-spinner also congratulated the MCG ground staff for preparing one of the best wicket at the venue for a long time.

Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin were the pick of the bowlers for the visitors as they returned with four and three wickets respectively. Mohammed Siraj also impressed on his Test debut and returned with two wickets for all his hard work.

India finished the Day 1 at 36/1, with Shubman Gill unbeaten on 28 and Cheteshwar Pujara batting on seven, trailing Australia by 159 runs.

https://sports.ndtv.com/australia-v...a-for-195-on-day-1-of-boxing-day-test-2343930
 
Doesnt deserve his place anymore tbh

But can turn it around
 
Batting great Sunil Gavaskar feels it’s too early to jump into the conclusions regarding Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy. In the second Test against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground, Rahane took charge of Team India in the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli, who has returned to India on paternity leave. Rahane impressed everyone with his captaincy skills on the Day 1 of Boxing Day Test with his bowling changes and field placements. Indian bowlers executed the plan well as they restrict Australia for a sub-par 195 in 72.3 overs

Former India captain Gavaskar claims if he praises Rahane’s captaincy he will get accused of backing a Mumbaikar.

Asked for his comments on Rahane’s leadership, Gavaskar said: “… let’s not jump into conclusions too quickly. If I say that his captaincy is outstanding, then again, I will be accused of backing a Mumbai boy and all kinds of things will happen.

“So I don’t want to get into that because these are early days,” the legendary batsman said on Sony Sports Network.

Gavaskar was impressed with Rahane’s field placements as three Australian batsmen — Marnus Labuschange, Steve Smith, and Travis Head — were all caught by fielders deployed at different positions.

“From what I have seen in the last 2 Tests he captained and the one-day matches he captained, he has got a great sense of where the fielders should be kept,” Gavaskar said.

“Having said that, it’s very important for the bowlers to bowl to their field. If the bowlers bowl to the field, as they did today, then the captain looks very good.”

Rahane was impressive with his bowling changes also. He introduced R Ashwin inside the first hour of play and the senior spinner delivered, dismissing Matthew Wade and Steve Smith to reduce Australia to 38 for three.

Rahane also didn’t give debutant Mohammed Siraj a single over before lunch break as he knew that his strength is generating pace and movement with semi-new and old ball as the pacer returned with two crucial wickets.

Gavaskar said it was important to attribute India’s success on the opening day to the efforts made by the bowling unit.

“It’s important for India to look beyond the fact that it’s only Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy. It’s the way Ashwin bowled, it’s the way Bumrah bowled, it’s the way Siraj made his debut,” the 71-year-old said.

“I mean imagine, being a new-ball bowlers, and you don’t get to bowl a single delivery before the second session. Only in the second session, you get to bowl in the 27th over but he showed great spirit in the way he came and bowled.

“It tells you a lot about this Indian team that they were at the Australians and they got the early wicket. If they hadn’t got the early wicket, if Australia had gotten to a 60 or 70 for 0 kind of start, then their body language might have been different.”

Gavaskar was “pretty surprised at the fact that on Day 1 there’s a lot of turn for the Indian spinners.”

Ashwin exploited the turn and bounce at the MCG to capture three wickets for 35, which included the prized scalp of Smith, who was dismissed for a duck for the first time in over four years in Test cricket.

“He’s (Ashwin) been bowling straight, he’s been bowling on the middle and leg, it’s been pretty much a plan to try and restrict the batsmen from playing any shot through the off-side,” Gavaskar told 7 cricket.

“If you look at Smith’s dismissal because maybe he was on zero he wanted to get off the mark, wasn’t able to control it.”

https://www.cricketcountry.com/news...-of-backing-a-mumbaikar-sunil-gavaskar-963047
 
Stand-in-Capatains always have the luxuries of more attacking than the regular captains..
 
Former India captain Gavaskar claims if he praises Rahane’s captaincy he will get accused of backing a Mumbaikar.

:))):)))
 
Massive day for Rahane tomorrow.

He needs to absolutely make a score.
 
Varun said:
Massive day for Rahane tomorrow.

He needs to absolutely make a score.
Click to expand...

Leading from the front

A Rahane 100*
- 12th Test century
- 12th Indian captain to score a Test 100
- Second at MCG; Vinoo Mankad only other Indian player to do so
 
Smbhayi said:
Stand-in-Capatains always have the luxuries of more attacking than the regular captains..
Click to expand...

To the contrary, I think stand in captains are forced to be attacking.

Anything even slightly defensive and they will be criticized. No freedom. A regular captain is secure.
 
So far Rahane 's Captaincy had been good considering the fact India had a disastrous second innings in the previous match and in form Batsman/Captain Kohli taking a break . Rahane has to focus on India developing a big lead and putting the Aussies on Pressure and winning this match to keep away the horror of the disastrous second innings of the previous game . Let us evaluate him on match per basis currently and not go overboard in praising him now . Long way to go for being a successful Captain .
 
As I had said in other threads, Kohli has been keeping his team mates from expressing themselves. I think the biggest casualty is ironically Rahane himself.

Not deliberately - but Kohli is just so big a personality and influence, it would be intimidating for anyone, including Rahane and Shastri. I can think of such people in corporate context as well. They are also usually not great man managers.

However, let me hedge my bets. It is early days for Rahane.
 
Well done to Rahane, great knock although we gave him 2 lives, but still a very good knock on a flat MCG pitch.

Congrats to him, a true gritty innings for the ages.
 
OffDrive said:
Well done to Rahane, great knock although we gave him 2 lives, but still a very good knock on a flat MCG pitch.

Congrats to him, a true gritty innings for the ages.
Click to expand...
Stop crying in every thread.. . Take a break
 
Corridor of Uncertainty said:
As I had said in other threads, Kohli has been keeping his team mates from expressing themselves. I think the biggest casualty is ironically Rahane himself.

Not deliberately - but Kohli is just so big a personality and influence, it would be intimidating for anyone, including Rahane and Shastri. I can think of such people in corporate context as well. They are also usually not great man managers.

However, let me hedge my bets. It is early days for Rahane.
Click to expand...

This. I see it in corporate all the time too.
 
Boxing Day Test: Another great day for India and a top class knock from Ajinkya Rahane, says Virat Kohli

India skipper Virat Kohli, who has returned to the country to be there for the birth of his first child, on Sunday praised the stand-in-skipper Ajinkya Rahane for his knock against Australia and called it ‘another great day for India’.

Rahane led from the front on Sunday with his 12th Test hundred and the second against Australia and more importantly helped India get out of a precarious situation of 64/3 and end Day 2 on a much respectable 277/5 with a lead of 82 runs. Rahane remained unbeaten on 104 of 200 deliveries.


Prior to the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, and particularly after the 36 all-out at the Adelaide Oval last week, there was a lot of anticipation over how India would turn up in this Test. With the departure of Virat Kohli for the birth of his first child, all eyes were on the stand-in-skipper Ajinkya Rahane.

Rahane built key partnerships on Sunday

On Sunday, India started the day with their overnight score of 36 for 1. Shubman Gill looked fidgety but departed only after scoring 45 runs. Pat Cummins struck again in his next over to get Cheteshwar Pujara (17) caught behind the wickets. The scorecard read 64 for 3 at that juncture and another wicket was sure to leave the side reeling under pressure.

But Hanuma Vihar (21) joined hands with captain Ajinkya Rahane, who as expected came to bat at number 4. The two stabilized the innings and partnered for 52 runs before the former got out while trying to sweep a Nathan Lyon delivery.

Rahane then built important partnerships with Rishabh Pant (57) and Ravindra Jadeja (104*) to help India get into a position of dominance.

Indian batting great Sunil Gavaskar also heaped praise on Rahane and called his innings a "typical Test match century".

https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cr...ock-from-rahane-says-kohli-1753535-2020-12-27
 
Rohit in LOIs and Rahane in tests. Can't Kohli play under these captains and let India win some ICC trophies? :inti
 
Rahane ideally would be a better test captain and Rohit in ODIs/T20s. If Rohit could be convincing as a test player too, then he should take over in all formats.

The problem with Rahane is, despite his fine knock in this game, he has not looked assured for a long time now. Even this tour, he continues to look suspect vs Lyon.

Virat has therefore had a free run as captain because there has never been that one single player who could challenge his captaincy consistently. And somehow, we in India tend to be prefer an all-format captain.

On Virat's captaincy. His significant contribution has been assembling a world-class Test bowling attack from the scattered pieces of Dhoni's time. Dhoni never looked comfortable captaining pace bowlers even though individually, he may have included them in his teams - he never was able to put together a fast bowling unit and tended to prefer trundlers by nature.

Virat's other contribution has been his insane energy levels though he has gone flat on a couple of occasions like the CT Final vs Pak.

But his captaincy seemed to be based on inspiring the team through his high-levels of performance rather than understanding his players and rallying them together. Teammates sometimes seem in awe of him and he appears to like it when the game is all about him. Rockstar aura, fawning fans, actress wife, crazy wealth. Can't blame the teammates if they shrink in his presence. This has worked ok because he has been such a great performer - the team has inadvertently benefited.

But you tend to feel that players seem more comfortable when they're being captained by Rohit or Rahane.
 
Ajinkya Rahane MUST be made captain now, right?

Isn't it glaringly obvious how much better Rahane is as captain than Kohli? But will BCCI take the right call and risk a conflict with King Kohli?
 
No. Unless Kohli loses a home series/ clean swept in an away series he will not be changed. Also Rahane needs to be more consistent with the bat. Apart from 1 hundred, he hasn't contributed much and averages in mid 40's.

3 permanent changes will be. Gill as opener, Pant as WK batter and Siraj (4th seamer)
 
AamchiMumbaikar said:
No. Unless Kohli loses a home series/ clean swept in an away series he will not be changed. Also Rahane needs to be more consistent with the bat. Apart from 1 hundred, he hasn't contributed much and averages in mid 40's.

3 permanent changes will be. Gill as opener, Pant as WK batter and Siraj (4th seamer)
Click to expand...

Does Rahane justify his place as a batsman first? 1 SENA century in 5 years is not exactly the most earth shattering performance out there.
 
Should India persist with Rahane as the Test Captain ?

Can't do worse than Virat Kohli. As it is Kohli is captaining in other formats and comes across as someone overburdened by so many responsibilities.

Wouldn't be fair on Rahane to be removed when he accepted the responsibility to Captain the team in the middle of a difficult tour and exceeded all expectations, only to invite Kohli as the Test Captain again for not so difficult series.

Imo Kohli should be the bigger guy and relinquish the Test Captaincy forever to Rahane.
 
Last edited:
No....Virat will never play under anyone till he retires and he commands that position.
 
Not possible, it is Kohli's team and brand Kohli will suffer heavy losses if he's sacked as captain.
 
What a shame if he doesn't continue as a captain. Wonderful man manager and seems to bring the best out of all his players. The players want to play for him. Not sure if Kohli commands this kind of respect.
 
Forward Defensive Push said:
What a shame if he doesn't continue as a captain. Wonderful man manager and seems to bring the best out of all his players. The players want to play for him. Not sure if Kohli commands this kind of respect.
Click to expand...
I hope he brings the best out of him first. Extremely inconsistent even on flat pitches. Rahane is of the same age as Kohli, transition will happen to a younger guy like Gill/ Iyer when the time comes.
 
Kohli should give it up himself. Sacking him will create rifts.
He is not bigger than Tendulkar and if the latter could do it twice and be happy to recommend and play under a brash, long haired wicket keeper from the interiors of India at a time when cities had been dominating Indian cricket, Kohli sure can and should.

Sachin is the gold standard in Indian cricket and what was good for him, should be good for anyone who follows in his wake.
 
Rajdeep said:
No....Virat will never play under anyone till he retires and he commands that position.
Click to expand...

"if not Dhoni, who would be Indian test captain?"

"without Virat, this Indian team would be nothing"

"Virat will be captain till he retires"

We put up such constraints ourselves but transitions happen and people move on.
 
AamchiMumbaikar said:
No. Unless Kohli loses a home series/ clean swept in an away series he will not be changed. Also Rahane needs to be more consistent with the bat. Apart from 1 hundred, he hasn't contributed much and averages in mid 40's.

3 permanent changes will be. Gill as opener, Pant as WK batter and Siraj (4th seamer)
Click to expand...

0-2 in NZ
 
pillionrider said:
Rahane ideally would be a better test captain and Rohit in ODIs/T20s. If Rohit could be convincing as a test player too, then he should take over in all formats.

The problem with Rahane is, despite his fine knock in this game, he has not looked assured for a long time now. Even this tour, he continues to look suspect vs Lyon.

Virat has therefore had a free run as captain because there has never been that one single player who could challenge his captaincy consistently. And somehow, we in India tend to be prefer an all-format captain.

On Virat's captaincy. His significant contribution has been assembling a world-class Test bowling attack from the scattered pieces of Dhoni's time. Dhoni never looked comfortable captaining pace bowlers even though individually, he may have included them in his teams - he never was able to put together a fast bowling unit and tended to prefer trundlers by nature.

Virat's other contribution has been his insane energy levels though he has gone flat on a couple of occasions like the CT Final vs Pak.

But his captaincy seemed to be based on inspiring the team through his high-levels of performance rather than understanding his players and rallying them together. Teammates sometimes seem in awe of him and he appears to like it when the game is all about him. Rockstar aura, fawning fans, actress wife, crazy wealth. Can't blame the teammates if they shrink in his presence. This has worked ok because he has been such a great performer - the team has inadvertently benefited.

But you tend to feel that players seem more comfortable when they're being captained by Rohit or Rahane.
Click to expand...

That's a big myth..Kohli didn't 'assemble' a fast bowling.They were the same guys as under Dhoni(Ishant,Shami,Umesh,Bhuvi).Only Bumrah was picked by Kohli but it was an obvious pick.The difference is they all got mature and had a better bowling coach to work with.Ofcourse Kohli captained them better than Dhoni,but thats not saying much.
 
AamchiMumbaikar said:
I hope he brings the best out of him first. Extremely inconsistent even on flat pitches. Rahane is of the same age as Kohli, transition will happen to a younger guy like Gill/ Iyer when the time comes.
Click to expand...

Are you suggesting Iyer as Test captain :))
 
Saurav said:
That's a big myth..Kohli didn't 'assemble' a fast bowling.They were the same guys as under Dhoni(Ishant,Shami,Umesh,Bhuvi).Only Bumrah was picked by Kohli but it was an obvious pick.The difference is they all got mature and had a better bowling coach to work with.Ofcourse Kohli captained them better than Dhoni,but thats not saying much.
Click to expand...

They are bowling much much better under VK.
 
Virat should continue as captain but under him, this team will under-achieve a bit.
 
Don't give him too much credit. This young Indian team has mind blowing mental strength and hunger. The youngsters come up the ranks through tough competition in age groups and then in first class. They see eye to eye and aren't scared of foreign players thanks to IPL. A monkey could have captained this team.

Credit still goes to Kohli for moulding the entire Indian team to always go for a win. He moulded himself after the great australian spirit and that's seen in this Indian team. Fitness, attitude and playing without fear are because of what Kohli started.

The chance filled hundred not withstanding, Rahane has been a dud in the middle order for 2 to 3 years performing once in a blue moon. Look at the number of 50s and 100s he has in the last few years and you will see. Credit should go to the young Indian players and Kohli. And certainly to Shastri to a.certain extent.
 
How many of you think Kohli would've promoted Pant ahead of Vihari and Aggarwal in last two Tests?
 
rhony said:
Don't give him too much credit. This young Indian team has mind blowing mental strength and hunger. The youngsters come up the ranks through tough competition in age groups and then in first class. They see eye to eye and aren't scared of foreign players thanks to IPL. A monkey could have captained this team.

Credit still goes to Kohli for moulding the entire Indian team to always go for a win. He moulded himself after the great australian spirit and that's seen in this Indian team. Fitness, attitude and playing without fear are because of what Kohli started.

The chance filled hundred not withstanding, Rahane has been a dud in the middle order for 2 to 3 years performing once in a blue moon. Look at the number of 50s and 100s he has in the last few years and you will see. Credit should go to the young Indian players and Kohli. And certainly to Shastri to a.certain extent.
Click to expand...

He did in Adelaide
 
Saurav said:
That's a big myth..Kohli didn't 'assemble' a fast bowling.They were the same guys as under Dhoni(Ishant,Shami,Umesh,Bhuvi).Only Bumrah was picked by Kohli but it was an obvious pick.The difference is they all got mature and had a better bowling coach to work with.Ofcourse Kohli captained them better than Dhoni,but thats not saying much.
Click to expand...

If Rahane is credited with the performance of the players under him, the same should apply to Kohli.
 
rhony said:
Don't give him too much credit. This young Indian team has mind blowing mental strength and hunger. The youngsters come up the ranks through tough competition in age groups and then in first class. They see eye to eye and aren't scared of foreign players thanks to IPL. A monkey could have captained this team.

Credit still goes to Kohli for moulding the entire Indian team to always go for a win. He moulded himself after the great australian spirit and that's seen in this Indian team. Fitness, attitude and playing without fear are because of what Kohli started.

The chance filled hundred not withstanding, Rahane has been a dud in the middle order for 2 to 3 years performing once in a blue moon. Look at the number of 50s and 100s he has in the last few years and you will see. Credit should go to the young Indian players and Kohli. And certainly to Shastri to a.certain extent.
Click to expand...

You are severely underestimating the power of leadership.

History is filled with millions of examples of leaders fighting with inferior teams and winning.

Rahane's impact can be seen in the body language of the players.

It was a different style of captaincy... One that allowed players to get a sense of belonging.
 
pillionrider said:
If Rahane is credited with the performance of the players under him, the same should apply to Kohli.
Click to expand...

He should,just that we never produced a performance matching this

Jadeja can captain us to wins in India
 
Saurav said:
He did in Adelaide
Click to expand...
lol this. Under Kohli, we've fluffed too many chances in some of the away series.

SA series was so winnable as was the one in England though Kohli was immense in both the series as a batsman but totally dud as captain. I mean who plays 2 spinners on a wet Lords deck?
 
sensible-indian-fan said:
You are severely underestimating the power of leadership.

History is filled with millions of examples of leaders fighting with inferior teams and winning.

Rahane's impact can be seen in the body language of the players.

It was a different style of captaincy... One that allowed players to get a sense of belonging.
Click to expand...

Yes leadership can turn things around and that's why Kohli should be credited for moulding the team over the years. This win is because of the lack of fear of failure. Rahane has a decent brain no doubt but if you think he, all of a sudden became a leader of men driving them out of despair then it's a bit of an over stretched imagination. This Indian team is well prepared and that's been the case since Dhoni's days. They are a well oiled machine and very fit. That's thanks to the spirit brought by Kohli. One look at Rahane's shot when he got out yesterday will tell you how muddled his brain is. You can't command respect when you don't perform consistently yourself. Kohli is a beast in that regard and he gives everyone in the team a template for success. They follow blindly and the results are there to see.
 
We are still to lose a test whenever Rahane has led us. His record, Played: 5 tests; Won: 4 Tests; Draws: 1 test.
 
JaDed said:
:))) hahaha man Kohli has missed it, TBF this victory is so sweet because he wasn’t there
Click to expand...

I have almost forgot that hes the captain.Rahane is the captain for me lol

I guess it will sink in once England series starts
 
rhony said:
Yes leadership can turn things around and that's why Kohli should be credited for moulding the team over the years. This win is because of the lack of fear of failure. Rahane has a decent brain no doubt but if you think he, all of a sudden became a leader of men driving them out of despair then it's a bit of an over stretched imagination. This Indian team is well prepared and that's been the case since Dhoni's days. They are a well oiled machine and very fit. That's thanks to the spirit brought by Kohli. One look at Rahane's shot when he got out yesterday will tell you how muddled his brain is. You can't command respect when you don't perform consistently yourself. Kohli is a beast in that regard and he gives everyone in the team a template for success. They follow blindly and the results are there to see.
Click to expand...

Its not imagination if you look at hardcore data on how many times we would get the basic team combo wrong in the past as opposed to now.

Its not hard to see how players who would normally choke, are now playing out of their skin, wayyy above their ability at times to fight it for their team.

Rahane has done it not once... Or twice... But thrice.

The body language of players is wayyy different here.

And this ain't the first time.

Not sure if you remember Dharmashala but Aus raced off to a flier when Rahane turned the tables on them there.

Commanding respect matters but it ain't be all and end all.

Kohli is inspiration but comes with his bugs and those are BIG Time Bugs.
 
Rahane stays focused on the tactical moves. He has a black belt in karate. It may have trained him to stay calm and tough. Also, his stints as a commentator and IPL captain should help him to take the game as just another game. If he can stay in the team as a batsman, he should continue to captain the Test side until someone like KL Rahul or Shreyas Iyer is ready to take over.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Test cricket at its best.<br><br>Our camera was there to capture all the emotion as India pulled off a victory for the ages at the Gabba <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvIND?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvIND</a> <a href="https://t.co/V3QchmOklA">pic.twitter.com/V3QchmOklA</a></p>— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) <a href="https://twitter.com/cricketcomau/status/1351486962406834181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Goosebumps.

Eyes are moist.

Rahane is a legend.

Dude looks like a TOTAL BOSS here.

Humble as hell too.

And Team India has been something else this tour.

No one is ever going to forget this magical tour.

A gazzilion life lessons to be gleaned from this.

:bow:
 
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