Ajinkya Rahane has been racking up a lot of praise for the way he has led the team in the second Test match against Australia in Melbourne. After the humiliation in Adelaide where they were eliminated by just 36, things did not improve for the Indian team. Virat Kohli was absent, Shami was injured, Rohit was unavailable while Ishant failed to pass the fitness test. The cards were stacked firmly against the Indian team.
However, backup captain Ajinkya Rahane showed what he can do with his leadership skills as he led from the front to propel India to an eight-wicket victory over Australia in Melbourne. The fielding strategies were innovative as the Indian bowlers dominated the Australian batsmen who struggled for attention.
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Even with the bat, Rahane rescued India from a precarious position as he broke a century on a difficult Melbourne course. He has received praise from all corners and former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has words of praise for him too. Gavaskar said it is “heartening to see” how Australian legends praise Rahane for his leadership skills.
“You had to be close to the Australian comment boxes to understand the kind of admiration there was for the way he (Rahane) led the team among some of the Australian legends that were in the comment box,” Gavaskar told ‘ India Today ‘. “So it was very encouraging to see these guys praising him for his leadership, someone like Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Mike Hussey, Shane Warne, they had nothing but praise for Rahane’s captaincy.”
Rahane would again hope to replicate his performance with the bat when India meets Australia in the third test that starts on January 7 from Sydney.
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