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Why Rahane's a great choice as Indian cricket captain

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S Kannan
S KannanJul 05, 2015 | 12:14

Why Rahane's a great choice as Indian cricket captain

Ajinkya Rahane did well not to ask the selectors for rest after the disastrous tour to Bangladesh and has been rewarded with captaincy for the forthcoming tour to Zimbabwe.

Indian cricket has been in the news mostly for controversial reasons in the last month and even in Rahane’s elevation people are looking for "angles".

When regular one day international (ODI) skipper MS Dhoni made Rahane sit out for two ODIs in Bangladesh, nobody said much.

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But now that the Sandeep Patil-led selection committee has backed Rahane, critics are describing it as a rebuff to Dhoni. Facts need to be put in perspective before people can take potshots at Dhoni or Rahane.

Everyone knows how solid and technically sound a batsman Rahane is. The reason Dhoni rested Rahane on the infamous tour to Bangladesh was the nature of the wicket in Mirpur where the ball does not come on to the bat and the new ODI captain would have had a problem in rotating the strike.

All that has been ignored and the rebuff theory is to be accepted by all those who love cricket gossip.

Even till last Saturday, there were doubts over the tour to Zimbabwe as there were some ticklish issues relating to the channel that was the Zimbabwe board’s partner.

People who believe the Dhoni-rebuff theory need to know that five players could have become captain for the Zimbabwe tour had they given their consent. From Virat Kohli to Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma to Suresh Raina, anyone could have become captain. But when R Ashwin also made himself unavailable, Rahane became the obvious choice.

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All those who have followed Rahane’s career will agree how gifted a batsman he is and is technically so sound he has been compared on many occasions with Rahul Dravid. They say just as there is no gap between his bat and pad, Rahane has his head placed between the two shoulders.

As one who had to wait for long to get a call for his ODI debut in England in 2011, Rahane had already scored over 5,000 runs in first-class cricket. With such a solid base, it was only a matter of time before he became part of Indian teams in the T20, ODI and Test formats.

In his 55-ODI career, Rahane has scored close to 1,600 runs with three centuries which makes him a batsman worth his salt to lead India. He had a good run earlier this year in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which was followed by his free scoring for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In fact, he held the orange cap for a long time in IPL 8 before David Warner took over. There is no rich captaincy experience for Rahane, but then not all players who are made captain have previous experience.

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As regards maturity and a cool head, Rahane has an unflappable temperament. The gurus who have watched him over the years say he has modelled himself on Dravid though when it comes to captaincy abroad, it can be unforgiving even against a not-so-big team like Zimbabwe.

Looking ahead, this is a good chance for Rahane and Indian cricket in totality as it will allow the selectors and the high priests in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) a look at the options for the future.

Given Test captain Kohli’s blow-hot-blow-cold temperament and how he has managed to rub a few people the wrong way, Rahane’s elevation could offer pointers.

In a worst-case scenario, should Kohli find himself out in the cold for a couple of Test matches one day, if Rahane is able to prove himself as skipper, the new exercise may well be worth it.

With the Mumbai batsman’s durability and ability to be part of all three formats on the international stage, there are interesting days ahead.

Last updated: July 05, 2015 | 12:14
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