Ajinkya Rahane: Staying the calm influencer

Named vice-captain for the West Indies Tests, Rahane has been understated yet highly successful as a leader

The vice-captain's role is often underrated in cricket. With all the focus on the captain, not much thought is given to appointing his deputy. Few would know the importance of a good captain-deputy combination better than India coach Rahul Dravid. The way he used to stand in, and deliver, when Sourav Ganguly was unavailable is in the record books.

Rahane as captain has a feel for the game. His record as a leader reflects the success of his instinctive calls. (AP)

Ajinkya Rahane was a superb deputy for Virat Kohli. When he lost form and was removed as vice-captain, it hurt the Indian team. There are two major examples. On the 2021-11 South Africa tour, when Kohli sat out the second Test at Wanderers, India missed a seasoned deputy. Rahane was playing but was not the vice-captain and KL Rahul was found wanting at crucial moments. India lost the game and went on to lose the series.

India missed a smart leader in the postponed fifth Test against England (July, 2022). When Rohit Sharma fell ill, Jasprit Bumrah was asked to lead. It left one wondering how India would have done under Rahane instead of a rookie captain.

Had these two results gone in India's favour, Dravid knows the narrative of his tenure would make for a much better reading.

Rahane as captain has a feel for the game. His record as a leader reflects the success of his instinctive calls. Standing in for Kohli, he has won four out of six Tests, with no defeats.

Dropped for the 2022 home Tests against Sri Lanka and written off by most, Rahane has defied the odds to return to the leadership role, as vice-captain for the two Tests in the West Indies from July 12 to 24.

This marks a fine comeback for the middle-order batter. He was selected for the World Test Championship final only due to injuries.

“With his humility and character, he commands respect from teammates. He has shown us in Australia (2020-21) why he is the best choice for vice-captain. Who will forget how he won the series with net bowlers (when main players got injured),” said former India player Pravin Amre, who coaches Rahane from time to time.

India didn't name a vice-captain for last month’s WTC final. How Rohit Sharma would have loved to have Rahane in his ear when India ran out of ideas in dealing with the Steve Smith-Travis Head partnership on the first day.

OFF-SPIN VS AUS

India missed a trick by leaving out off-spinner R Ashwin from the playing XI. Usually, the vice-captain is part of the team management on tours and has a say in picking the XI. Had Rahane been there’s a chance he would have backed the ace off-spinner's inclusion. After all, one of the features of his brilliant leadership in the three Tests of the 2020-21 Australia tour after skipper Virat Kohli flew back was how he used the off-spinners to control the Tests at Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, first through Ashwin and then Washington Sundar, to make a comeback in the series.

Australian batters’ weakness against off-spin is not new; ask Erapalli Prasanna, who has 57 wickets in 13 Tests against them, Shivlal Yadav (55 wickets in 13 Tests) or Harbhajan Singh (95 wickets in 18 Tests). Ashwin has 114 wickets in 22 Tests against Australia. On the 2020-21 tour, Ashwin took 13 scalps in three Tests. More importantly, backed by Rahane’s astute leadership, he had the measure of Steve Smith, getting him thrice in five innings. After Ashwin got injured, Rahane countered the threat of Smith with debutant offie Washington Sundar, who took four wickets in the famous series-clinching win at The Gabba.

With Ashwin left out at The Oval, Smith hit a century, so did left-hander Travis Head. Ashwin has a great record against left-handers. In the 2020-21 series, he got Head in the first Test and the batter was dropped after the first two Tests.

CALM STYLE

Rahane, who stayed focused on his job as a player, can transform into a livewire on the field with a clear through process when leadership responsibilities are thrust on him. Those traits were first noticed in the 2017 series decider against Australia at Dharamsala. The MCG and Brisbane Tests take his record against the Aussies to three wins in four Tests.

The West Indies series will mark the start of the new World Test Championship cycle. When the WTC 2025 final comes around, Rahane will be 37. But his ability to play back-to-the-wall kind of innings has kept him relevant in Indian cricket – his defiant 89 and 46 helped India stay alive in the WTC final till the last day.

“He is an inspiring story for any youngster. Nobody gave him even one percent chance of a comeback. He was not offered the annual BCCI contract. Very sad we lost, but he fought it out, showed character. The way he guided Shardul Thakur in the middle, his leadership quality again came out, which has been acknowledged (with vice-captaincy),” Amre said.

“My guru, the late Ramakant Achrekar Sir, used to say, “you can’t buy experience in the supermarket. It should be transferred to the youngsters”. He is very popular among youngsters, he goes to their level and talks to them,” said Amre.