Melbourne: India worked through Australia’s lower-order resistance on the fourth day of 2nd Test to set themselves up a crushing eight-wicket victory in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne on Tuesday (December 29).
Cricket lovers have been cheering the interrelated efforts by the Indian team and its stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane. His 112 off 223 balls in the first innings followed by his style of finishing off in the second, led him to be honored as the Man of the match.
While pundits have been talking about promoting Rahane as the full-time captain of the Test team, former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta feels such questions are emerging only because people don’t approve of captain Virat Kohli’s eloquent perspective. Diversely, Rahane mostly stays cool on the field while leading the team.
“I am taking nothing away from him (Rahane), but it’s just one Test match. Other leaders in the team like R Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah also stepped up. Let’s hold on to our horses as Virat Kohli hasn’t done anything wrong either. It seems like people have a problem with the way he expresses himself, but that’s the way he is,” Dasgupta told India Today.
Dasgupta further pointed to the fact that India recorded several victories under Kohli’s guidance and maintained the number 1 Test spot for a long time.
“Kohli is the same captain under whom the Indian team won in Australia back in 2018-19. India was the No. 1 Test side for a very long time under his leadership. It’s good for Indian cricket that they have so many leaders, but it’s just one good win doesn’t. Even in Adelaide, the Indian team played well and was on top of Australia except for that one session where the team went through a batting debacle. In terms of batting, a captain can’t do much,” he further added.
