Team India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane says that his role is to take the backseat and be ready with solutions whenever captain Virat Kohli turns to him.
With less than 10 days remaining for the ICC World Test Championship, Ajinkya Rahane would be crucial to Virat Kohli’s side as 33-year-old led Team India to a historic Test series win in Australia and was lauded by the cricket fraternity all across the globe.
His heroics in Australia even lead to calls for him to replace Virat Kohli as the regular captain in Tests. Ajinkya Rahane however, asserted that Kohli will always be captain of the team and he is happy to take a back seat.
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In the latest interaction with ESPNCricinfo, Team India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane admitted that his role is to take the backseat as skipper is already prepared. He added that if the need comes he’s ready with his plans.
"My role is to take the backseat. The captain already has a lot of thoughts in his head and as the vice-captain, my role is to keep my plans ready.
"If the need comes I reveal my plans but more often than not, I take the back seat. When Virat asks what needs to be done, I should be ready with the answers," Ajinkya Rahane told ESPNCricinfo.
Rahane pointed out the difference between batting with Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, saying that he along with the skipper likes to play attacking cricket and if the situation arises to counter-attack they both decide to do it together.
On the other hand batting with Pujara is different as they take time to form a partnership. He added that while batting with Kohli and Pujara are different, his communication with both remains good.
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"Virat and I have had a lot of big partnerships. We like to play attacking cricket. If you look at our strike rate, it is really good in Test cricket. Cheteshwar is different, he likes to take his team. With him the communication is different, he bats at No.3, I bat at No.5 whereas Virat and I are numbers four and five.
“If we want to counter-attack, then we decide to do it together. With Pujara we take more time to form a partnership. The similarity in batting with the two of them is that our communication is always good," he said.
Team India will lock horns in the WTC final against New Zealand, which will be played from June 18-22, with 23rd being a reserve day. After that the Virat Kohli-led side will engage in a five-match Test series against England, starting 4th August.
(ESPNCricinfo inputs)
