Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar was impressed with the tactics of the Indian team under the captaincy of Ajinkya Rahane but said that he would refrain from calling him a great captain as he could be accused of bias in favour of a Mumbaikar. He also said that Rahane is still at the beginning of his captaincy days and it would be premature to judge his leadership credentials.
“Let’s not jump to 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,” Gavaskar said on Sony Sports Network from Australia.
However, he did not hold back from looking back on what he had observed in the only two Test matches Rahane had captained the side in before. He said that the field placements that the current Indian skipper had set for Marnus Labuschagne highlighted his reading of the game, but, it was also down to the bowler to execute those plans, otherwise Rahane would not be looking like the captain he appears now.
“From what I have seen in the last two 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.”
India have secured a lead of 82 runs at the end of the second day’s play at the MCG on the back of Ajinkya Rahane’s century and resistance from Ravindra Jadeja.
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