Indian Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane refused to indulge in any question with regards to the ongoing debate about the team’s captaincy with many wanting him to take over from Virat Kohli, under whom India has lost four consecutive Tests.
Ajinkya Rahane reiterated his stand that Kohli is and will continue to be his captain and said the body language of the players could have been because of how the pitch behaved on the first two days of the opening Test.
"It is not always possible to have the same sort of energy on the field. The lack of energy sometimes on the field in the first Test was not due to the captain getting changed. Virat Kohli is and will continue to be my captain. Kuch masala nahi milega yahan (You won't get any controversy here)," said Rahane during the virtual press conference.
"The body language might also be because of how wicket behaved in the first two days of the opening Test. Virat is our captain, he will be our captain," he added.
IND v ENG 2021: Ajinkya Rahane refuses to comment on allegations against Wasim Jaffer
The vice-captain also said he will giving suggestions whenever Kohli asks as there are many things going on in the captain's mind during a game.
"Virat (Kohli) is the captain. He left from Australia for family reasons that is why I became the captain. Originally Virat is the captain and I am the vice-captain. So I am really happy that he is back with us. Which is really positive. As a team, we are trying to play as a unit and together as well as to our strengths. My job is to take a backseat and then help out Virat whenever required, whenever he asks me for certain things I will help him," he said.
Rahane himself is undergoing some tough times, given his lean run of form for the past 2 years. Rahane spoke about the same in the press conference.
"See we are playing at home after two years. Our last home series was against South Africa. If you take (the scores of that series) out, you will find something over there. It's all about the team and not the individual and my focus is how can I contribute to the team. If you take out the last 10-15 Test matches, you will see some runs over there. I don't need to think about what's happening on the outside,” Rahane answered in the third person with a deadpan expression referring to his scores of 59 and 115 against the Proteas in that 2019 series.
The second Test begins on February 13 onwards, with a 50% crowd allowed in the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
(ANI/PTI inputs)
