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Who should lead Team India in the absence of Virat Kohli during the Border-Gavaskar series? – This is the question that has been doing the round in the cricket fraternity ever since it was announced that Kohli would miss three of the four-match Test series.
The India skipper will return home after the first Test to be at the birth of his first child. The BCCI has already granted him a paternity leave. Ajinkya Rahane is the designated vice-captain and is expected to lead Team India in the last three Tests. But several quarters have opined that Rohit Sharma should lead the side.
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh has now weighed in with his views too. The 40-year old has opined that Rahane should be the man to lead India once Kohli leaves Australia. Harbhajan Singh believes Rahane has the capability to lead from the front like Kohli despite them being two distinct characters on the field.
“[Captaincy] definitely a big challenge for Ajinkya Rahane because he hasn’t been captain for an entire series. Also, he’s pretty calm and composed, not so expressive. He’s very different than Virat Kohli.
So it will be a new experience for him. Start of a new innings for him. I give him my best wishes and I hope that he will take the team forward and score runs as well,” Harbhajan Singh said on Sports Tak.
“I hope he takes the team forward like Virat, leading from the front, also scores runs. I would also like to remind Rahane that he doesn’t need to change his style or personality, his game. Looking at a personality like Virat, Rahane might think that he has to adopt some of it to beat Australia. But I don’t think that’s necessary. All Rahane needs to do is be himself and make sure he gets the best out of his team,” he added.
Rahane is no stranger to leading Team India. The right-handed batsman has led the team in two games so far and guided the team to win in both the games. Incidentally, the first win came against Australia in 2017 and guided India to a series win.
‘Kohli’s absence will be felt’:
Harbhajan Singh further admitted that Kohli’s absence is going to have a huge impact on the team in the last 3 Tests. Kohli has a stunning record in Australia in Tests. In 12 games so far, he has amassed 1,274 Test runs, averaging 55.39, which includes 6 hundreds and 3 fifties.
“I feel Kohli’s absence will be felt in both aspects [as a batsman and a leader. Firstly, the kind of record Kohli has with the bat in Australia is unbelievable. His numbers in Australia are great, so much that every player would want to go to Australia and perform like him. So definitely India is going to miss Kohli in the batting unit,” Harbhajan Singh said.
“Then his experience as a captain, his aggression, leading from the front, that is Virat Kohli and he’ll remain the best. He puts his all while representing the side, be it fielding as well. His body language, intent towards winning the game is what India will miss most,” he added.
The Test series is scheduled to start on December 17 in Adelaide. Prior to the Tests, India and Australia will play three ODIs and three T20Is. Kohli will be leading the team in all the limited-overs games.
