Ajinkya Rahane returned to the Indian Test team fold at the World Test Championship final after being on the sidelines for 18 months. He made his mark immediately with scores of 89 and 46 runs, albeit in a losing cause against Australia.
With West Indies next on India’s schedule, Rahane has been given the Test vice-captaincy role by national selection committee headed by interim chief Shiv Sunder Das.
The decision to give Rahane, 35, the responsibility rather than grooming someone like a Shubman Gill or an omnipresent Ravindra Jadeja has surprised former India captain Sourav Ganguly.
“I won’t say it’s a step backward. You have been out for 18 months, then you play a Test and you become a vice-captain. I don’t understand the thought process behind it. There is Ravindra Jadeja, who has been there for a long time and a certainty in Test matches, he is a candidate.”
“….but to just come back and straightway become vice-captain after 18 months, I don’t understand. My only thing is that selection shouldn’t be hot and cold. There has to be continuity and consistency in selection,” Ganguly said.
The Indian selectors have gone for a transition by excluding Cheteshwar Pujara for the Windies tour and Ganguly wants clarity on his future. Pujara has featured in more than 100 Tests for India.
“Selectors should have a clear idea about him (Pujara). Do they need him to play Test cricket anymore or do they want to continue with youngsters and communicate it to him. Somebody like Pujara can’t be dropped, then picked, dropped again and then picked. Same with Ajinkya Rahane also,” former BCCI chief Ganguly said.
Sarfaraz Khan deserves a chance
With Rahane performing well in the IPL and coming into the Test team, there is a growing feeling that inroads into red ball cricket are blocked. Ganguly, though, disagrees with that notion. He said a prolific batter like Sarfaraz Khan, who could not do well in IPL, should get a chance.
“I think Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored tons of runs in Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy. I think that’s why he is in the squad. I feel for Sarfaraz Khan. At some point he should get an opportunity for the amount of runs that he has scored in past three years.
“And same thing for Abhimanyu Easwaran for the tons of runs he has scored in last five to six years. I am surprised that both of them have been omitted but they should get a chance in future. But Yashasvi Jaiswal is a good selection.”
Ganguly has observed Sarfaraz from close quarters as Director of Cricket at Delhi Capitals and disagrees with the belief that he can’t play fast bowling.
“If you don’t play him (Sarfaraz) against fast bowling, how do you know?” he countered.
“If he had problems he wouldn’t have scored so many runs all around (India). I personally feel he has no problems against fast bowling and he should be given an opportunity.”
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