The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) selection committee sprung some surprises when they announced the Indian Test squad for the two-match series, which will be played in West Indies starting July 12. While Cheteshwar Pujara not being picked up [rested or dropped] was somewhat on expected lines, the move to select Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal ahead of Sarfaraz Khan was a rather interesting one. The most puzzling move was the decision to reappoint Ajinkya Rahane as vice-captain.
Rahane was recalled to the Indian Test squad for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia at the Oval based on an excellent showing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 for champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) – 326 runs at a strike rate of 172.49. Quite a few eyebrows were raised over the selection, and very rightly so. Recalling a player to the Test squad based on his performance in the T20 format is highly irrational, to say the very least. Having said that, the Mumbai batter must be commended for grabbing the opportunity that came his way with both hands.
He must have been very well aware of the fact that the selection was a one-off thing for a start. And had he failed, he would have been shown the door again. Under intense pressure, Rahane stood up and batted with a kind of resilience as if he had never been away. After Australia had posted 469 batting first at The Oval, India crumbled to 152/6. The comeback man then stood tall and top-scored with 89, featuring in a 109-run stand with Shardul Thakur (51). Although he missed out on a hundred on his return to the Indian team, with his fine knock under pressure, he made a big statement, proving he was well and truly back. Rahane did well in the second innings as well, scoring 46, although he would be disappointed with his dismissal, throwing his wicket away with a poor stroke.
Leadership position based on one Test performance?
Now, for the shocking part. Based on just one Test performance, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) selectors concluded that Rahane could be Test vice-captain again. He was earlier deputy to Kohli for quite some time and even led India to victory in Australia in 2020-21 in Kohli’s absence. However, he was subsequently sacked from the post due to consistent failures. While Rahane did exceptionally well in the WTC final, the fact remains that he has been very poor for India over the last few seasons, and the same was also the reason for his sacking from the Test squad.
Since the start of 2021, Rahane has featured in 16 Tests for India, scoring merely 682 runs at an extremely poor average of 23.51. During this period, he averages 21.75 from two Tests in Australia, 28 from six Tests in England, 18.87 from five Tests in India and 22.66 from three Tests in South Africa. He has just four half-centuries to show for his efforts in this period. The right-handed batter’s last Test ton came in December 2020, in the famous Boxing Day Test. He played one of the finest knocks under pressure to lift India to a famous win as captain at the MCG, burying the horror of Adelaide. An inspired India went on to win the series.
With all due respect to Rahane and his significant contribution to Indian cricket, the big question remains – is one Test performance good enough to give someone the important leadership post of vice-captain? Let’s not forget that here we are talking about someone who was not even retained by the Indian cricket board when the new annual retainer contracts were announced. What message is the BCCI trying to send out through this decision? Is there a vacuum when it comes to future captaincy candidates?
Why not Shubman Gill?
A line of thinking has backed the decision to give the vice-captaincy to Rahane since it is a stop-gap arrangement. The explanation is that most of the senior players who could have been handed the responsibility are not fit for the West Indies tour. Lead pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been out of action with a back injury. Ditto is the case with batter Shreyas Iyer. Another candidate, Rishabh Pant, is recovering following his shocking car accident in December last year. KL Rahul, vice-captain and captain, is also recuperating following recent surgery.
As such, some experts reckon that Rahane is the right pick as a part-time choice for West Indies as he has the experience. Then again, what is Indian cricket going to gain by bringing him back as Test vice-captain, even if only temporarily? What was the harm in naming young opener Shubman Gill as Rohit Sharma’s deputy? Many have touted him to be the future captain of the Indian team. Although it is too early to comment on the observation, the fact is that a low-key series like the West Indies tour would have been a great opportunity to begin the grooming process of Gill as captain.
The 23-year-old has already shown glimpses of leadership qualities in how he has led with the bat in recent times. He has easily outshone seniors in some matches like skipper Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav. For those who believe that he is too young to take up the responsibility, it must be stated that to learn how to deal with pressure, one must be thrown in at the deep end.
India’s Test squad for West Indies: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ajinkya Rahane (vice-captain), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Axar Patel, Mohd. Siraj, Mukesh Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat, Navdeep Saini.