Ajinkya Rahane helped India overcome massive odds as they beat Australia 2-1 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, with a memorable win in Brisbane.
Dharamshala 2017. The fourth and final Test between India and Australia had plenty at stake. Virat Kohli was injured and the captaincy fell to Ajinkya Rahane at a crucial time. The four-match series was level 1-1 and India wanted to maintain their proud, unbeaten series record alive. His inclusion of Kuldeep Yadav on a turning pitch paid rich dividends. His calm captaincy, combined with his pro-active field placements helped India beat Australia and win the series 2-1. India now had trophies against all nine Test-playing nations and they went through 2016/17 undefeated. Four years later, in India's tour to Australia, the odds were huge. Once again, there was no Virat Kohli as he was on paternity leave. With each and every Test, the injury list for India mounted first with Mohammed Shami in Adelaide and Umesh Yadav in Melbourne. In Sydney, R Ashwin, Hanuma Vihari and Jasprit Bumrah were all sidelined with injuries.
Yet, India won. A bowling attack with seven Tests combined outbowled Australia in their fortress of Gabba and it was the youthful brilliance of Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant, along with the courage of Cheteshwar Pujara that helped India become the first team to breach fortress Brisbane after 32 years. India won back-to-back series in Australia and this time, it was once again due to the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane. His century and innovative captaincy in Melbourne, as well as his brilliance on the field in Brisbane, ensured that after five Tests, Ajinkya Rahane had four wins and one draw.
The fact that Ajinkya Rahane has thrice secured wins when India was facing the odds and against an opponent like Australia shows his steel and mettle. When the India squad was announced for the Tests against England, Virat Kohli was back and he was going to lead the team. However, there is a growing demand that Ajinkya Rahane should be made the Test captain. After the win in Australia, the demand has grown that the only way forward for India and for Virat Kohli to ensure he is back to his batting best is split captaincy across formats.
Build on leadership in all formats
The ideal situation for India following the success in Australia would be to split the captaincy in all formats. Let Ajinkya Rahane be the captain of the Test team. Virat Kohli can be ODI captain while Rohit Sharma can be the Twenty20 International skipper. Whenever Virat Kohli has missed a series in limited-overs cricket, Rohit Sharma has stepped up and led the team admirably. As captain, Rohit Sharma has had success in the 2018 Asia Cup as well as in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy in Sri Lanka. In fact, Rohit Sharma has lost only once in his Twenty20 captaincy and has yet to taste defeat in a T20 series.
Rohit Sharma's captaincy is the prime reason why Mumbai Indians are the five-time champions in the IPL. It will make sense to put Rohit Sharma in charge for the T20Is with the World T20 in 2021 coming up while Ajinkya Rahane can be the full-time Test captain as India prepares for tours to England in 2021.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Ajinkya Rahane")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}