IND vs NZ 2021: We Were Wondering Whether He'll Be In The Team Or Not, But He Has Been Handed The Captaincy – Harbhajan Singh On Ajinkya Rahane

Veteran Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has said that he was wondering whether Indian Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane deserves a place in the Indian team or not, and the management has decided to make him captain for the first Test against New Zealand.

After winning the T20I series comfortably by 3-0 against New Zealand, India will lock horns in a two-match Test series. The Test series will begin from November 25 in Kanpur, and the second and last Test match of the series will be played on December 3 at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Also, Rahane will be leading the team in the first Test, and Cheteshwar Pujara will be his deputy. However, Virat Kohli will join the team in the second Test and will lead the team.

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Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, while reviewing the first Test match between India and New Zealand on Sportskeeda, said that Rahane is a brilliant cricketer, but his performance in the last few years has just gone down. Harbhajan also said that it’s good to see that Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are backing Rahane to stay in the team. He asserted:

“There’s no Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma has opted to rest himself. Then there’s Ajinkya Rahane; we were wondering whether he’ll be in the team or not.

“But he has been handed the captaincy (for the first Test). His last 11 matches haven’t gone too well as he is averaging just 19 (19.58). He is a brilliant cricketer but his performance hasn’t quite backed him. But it’s also good to see the thinking of Rohit, Virat, and Rahul Dravid as they believe that Rahane should be in the team.”

If Ajinkya Rahane Doesn’t Score Runs, The Queue Behind Him Is Very Long – Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan believes that Rahane should score runs in the series otherwise, he might find himself in trouble as there are several players like Suryakumar Yadav who are waiting to get an opportunity in the Test side. He said:

“Not that he has been given the captaincy, I hope he takes the team forward and also scores runs with the bat so we can see him playing for a little more. If he doesn’t score runs, the queue (of players waiting in the ranks) behind him is very long. There’s Suryakumar Yadav among others waiting in line,” explained Harbhajan. 

Harbhajan Singh further explained that India will be playing at home after a long time, and it will be like a new season. He said:

“The England Tour went very well for the team and then the final Test match did not happen. After that, a lot of T20 cricket was played, be it IPL [2021] or the T20 World Cup. So, this is kind of a new season because this is the first Test match we are playing at home (after a long time).

“It will be important how India start against New Zealand because they are a strong side in India as well. I hope to see good cricket pitches in India and the Indian team move forward by playing good cricket,” concluded Harbhajan.

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