Amid talks around his own form, Rahane defends Rohit Sharma, spinners for Chennai loss

Less than a month back Ajinkya Rahane led India to a remarkable win over the hosts Australia in Brisbane and he was welcomed with the showering of flowers in his housing society. 

Just as the series and challenges against Australia, another challenge was brewing for him and the Team India as now it was their time to become the hosts for England side who like them were coming off a triumphant tour of Sri Lanka.

There were a wide range of discussions on the issue of captaincy and whether Virat Kohli was the perfect man to lead the Indian Test team, or if Rahane was a better individual to lead the side against India.

The BCCI settled the issue by declaring the captaincy will be with Virat Kohli while Rahane will remain his debut in the Test team. 

The first Test against England were to start in a very quick time and players had to rejoin the biosecure bubble after spending some time with their families and the Test did not go as per the plans for the hosts and they were battered by an in-form English side who batted and bowled with more discipline than the Indian team.

Just as his stay at home was short, public memory turned out to be short for him as well with him failing in both the innings for very low scores. He got out cheaply in both the innings and was caught in the middle of a batting collapse in either inning. Fans and experts started questioning his place in the side, especially at home, but Rahane received massive backing from the skipper Kohli who rated him important batsman for the team in Tests.

Rahane was the man to address press before the second Test starting on February 13 and he was not let go but was rather confronted for his poor showings with the bat in the first Test. Showing his calm demeanour, Rahane outlined his approach of not looking back on what happened in the past and instead, pointed that he is focussed on the next Test and how can the team bounce back after going 1-0 down in the last game.

“My focus is how can I perform for my team; I do not need to worry about what happened in the 1st Test,” Rahane said in the pre-match virtual press conference.

The pitch for the first Test appeared to be flat and offered nothing to very little assistance to Indian spinners and England got away on the back of Joe Root’s brilliant double hundred to post a mammoth total in the first innings.

Although the trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah toiled hard to challenge England batting line up, they could not do enough as the fourth and fifth bowler in the Indian line up-- Shahbaz Nadeem and Washington Sundar failed to keep the pressure created by their senior teammates on the England batsmen and allowed them to get away with loose balls. But, he took a different tone to his skipper Kohli who publicly slammed the duo of Nadeem and Washington for not bowling well in the game after the completion of the first Test.

“I thought our spinners bowled well in the 1st Test. If you see 2dn innings, especially Ashwin bowled really well, there is not much concern over their performance,” Rahane added.

Rahane expressed confidence that the pitch to be used for the second Test will assist spinners from the very first day and hence suggested that the team combination will change compared to the first Test. 

India are certain to bring one change in their playing XI with Axar Patel regaining his fitness and Nadeem moving out of the main squad. However, Rahane did not reveal the playing XI or the thought process of the team in terms of team selection going into the second Test of the series.

“The pitch looks completely different (from the 1st Test). I am sure it will turn from Day 1. The wicket will be different, so the game plan may change accordingly, but it won't be that tricky,” Rahane said.

“Everyone is in the mix (playing XI). The good thing is Axar is fit to play. All our spinners are really good “

India had a tough call to make on the selection of wicketkeeper among Rishabh Pant whose bating abilities were too good to be overlooked while Wriddhiman Saha’s qualities behind the stumps are second to none, especially on turning wickets in India. 

Rahane justified the move by saying that players such as Pant must be backed for the impact they bring to the table for the Indian team and his wicketkeeping skills will only get better with more games under his belt.

“Wicketkeeping in India is a tough task and Rishabh Pant will improve and it is a learning curve for him. We need to back players like him who can have an impact with the bat as he does,” Rahane said of Pant.

Both him and Rohit Sharma had a terrible game with the bat in the last Test but Rahane backed his Mumbaikar colleague saying the right-hander can win India games every now and then and that his value can’t be downplayed with five or six failures. He also reiterated the decent start Rohit provided India in the last two Tests of the series in Australia.

“Rohit Sharma is an important member of the team. He contributed with the bat in Australia. And Rohit is the kind of player you cannot judge him over 5-6 innings, he is a match-winner. It's about having faith in the player,” Rahane spoke highly of Rohit in the press conference.

Rahane once again tried to settle the never-ending debate surrounding the captaincy issues and said that there is no change in leadership of the team and Kohli continues to lead the Indian team. 

“As I have reiterated, Virat Kohli is our captain, and he will remain our captain,” Rahane said.

Rahane was the man who turned things around for India in the aftermath of the historic low of 36 in Adelaide with a splendid century in the next Test. India were comprehensively outplayed in the first Test by England, and the team once again finds itself in trouble. Rahane will be looking forward to getting back among runs and settle all the issues and debates brewing around his batting on home soil come the second Test.