India’s stand-in skipper, Ajinkya Rahane will be leading the squad in the remaining games of the ongoing 4-match series in the absence of Virat Kohli. Hosts Australia is already having a 1-0 lead ahead of the 2nd Test in Melbourne, starting on Saturday, and Ajinkya Rahane will have a lot on his shoulders. While Kohli is known for his on-field aggression, Rahane is cool and calm.
In this regard, former Indian opener, Gautam Gambhir has a piece of advice for Rahane, who will be leading the team. According to Gambhir, Rahane does not need to change his personality and, in fact, showcase aggression in his own way.
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During a recent chat with Sports Today, Gambhir said, “See, one thing is you don’t change your personality overnight and you don’t need to change your personality. There are different captains, there are different personalities who have led their sides in a completely different way. Ajinkya can’t be Virat Kohli, Virat Kohli can’t be MS Dhoni and MS Dhoni could never be Sourav Ganguly.”
He further added, “So all these guys have been successful captains. So be the way you are and one change that I would definitely want to see is Ajinkya Rahane coming and batting at No. 4 because that is what would send a message that ‘I’m leading from the front’.”
Ahead of the Boxing Day Test, Gautam Gambhir has given Rahul Dravid’s aggressive style of captaincy as an example for Rahane, who could showcase his aggression as captain without the show of emotions on the field.
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Gambhir elaborated, “It’s not about the emotions you show on the field or reacting to every wicket or reacting to every run you score and all that stuff. Your body language can be aggressive, your field placements could be aggressive, you could ask your bowlers to bowl different lengths, your batting could be different. I could never expect someone like MS Dhoni to show emotions, Dada was a bit more emotional, Virat Kohli’s a much more emotional guy.”