"Kohli's energy mistaken for anger; Rahane remains calm if bowlers err," B Arun compares their captaincy styles

Rahane led India to a 2-1 Test series win in Australia after Kohli came back for paternal leave.

By Ankitjit Singh - 28 Jan, 2021

Team India bowling coach Bharat Arun on Wednesday revealed the difference between Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane’s styles of captaincy and said that Rahane is a calm person while Virat Kohli’s energy is sometimes mistaken for anger. 

After Kohli went on paternity leave, Ajinkya Rahane led Team India to a 2-1 series victory over Australia in the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar trophy.

Despite batting debacle at Adelaide and with a flurry of injuries to their first-choice cricketers, Ajinkya Rahane’s men put together three stellar performances to record one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the game.

Commenting on Ajinkya Rahane’s style of captaincy Bharat Arun said Rahane has such calmness that bowlers don’t feel scared when they fail to execute a plan under him

“When it comes to Ajinkya, he is a calm person. Rahane might look calm from the outside but there is a steely nerve in him. He backs players and looks calm and even if a bowler goes wrong, he might not be scared of the captain. He knows that he will be backed,” Bharat Arun told R Ashwin on his YouTube channel. 

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Reflecting on Virat Kohli’s captaincy the 58-years-old said that Kohli’s energy is sometimes mistaken for anger. 

With Virat Kohli, if you bowl two bad balls, it might look like he will get angry, but that’s just his energy. Ajinkya brings the calmness, of course, even if he buys-in the plan, he makes sure he executes it to the T,” he said. 

Bharat Arun further said that head coach Ravi Shastri absolutely hates to see Indian bowlers concede boundaries.

“He will follow the match from the dressing room. But he absolutely hates it when a bowler concedes a boundary. He doesn’t want bowlers to concede a run. That’s what he wants. When we bowl, we should keep on taking wickets.

And when they are bowling, we should keep on scoring runs. If someone concedes two boundaries, he will shout. If someone concedes a boundary, I know that I am going to be shouted at,” he said. 

Team India’s next assignment will be the four-match Test series at home against England starting February 5. However with Virat Kohli returning back to the side Ajinkya Rahane will return to his vice captain’s role. 

(PTI inputs) 

By Ankitjit Singh - 28 Jan, 2021

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