Former Pakistan player Danish Kaneria has predicted that Ajinkya Rahane will take over the captaincy duties from Virat Kohli in the longest format soon. He is already leading the side in the first Test match against New Zealand in Kanpur in the absence of Virat Kohli. Kohli will join the team in the second Test as well.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Kaneria said: “Even if Virat Kohli comes in, I think he will play as a player at some stage. It is too early to say, but I think Ajinkya Rahane will continue (as captain). But for that to happen, Rahane has to score runs as well. That is very important.”

Danish Kaneria further added: “This is a testing period for Ajinkya Rahane. No doubt he led the team well in Australia after a rough start, but the graph has gone downhill since then. Very important series for Rahane. The combination of Rahul Dravid and Rahane will be fantastic”

Notably, Ajinkya Rahane has successfully captained the team before too on multiple occasions. He led the Indian team to victory against Australia in the fourth Test of the Border Gavaskar series to win the series as well. He also led the team to an overseas win earlier this year while returning in the form in the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli.

He also admitted that Ajinkya Rahane desperately needs some runs under his belt to be in the playing XI as his place in the team is uncertain due to his poor show in recent times. Moreover, the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav and even Shubman Gill to an extent are waiting there to replace him in the middle order.

“If Rahane does not score runs, his position will grow weaker within the team. Suryakumar Yadav, Kohli, Rahul, Iyer are all there as well in the middle order. Rahul Dravid knows and understands Test cricket very well,” Danish Kaneria concluded.