Ian appreciates Rahane's aggressive captaincy

New Delhi: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has found Ajinkya Rahane to be a "fabulous captain" and expects that his "aggressive style" will suit the Indian team which would fancy its chances against a David Warner-less hosts in the first Test in Adelaide from December 17.

India captain Virat Kohli will be on a paternity break after the first Test and onus will be on Rahane to steer the ship in the remaining three games of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

"Well, I saw him captain in one Test against Australia (in Dharamsala in March, 2017) and found his captaincy to be fabulous. He was really an aggressive captain," Chappell told PTI during a virtual interactive session "Cricket Conversations", anchored by senior cricket journalist Ashis Ray.

Chappell then cited nuggets of Rahane's captaincy during that Australia Test that had caught his attention. "I remember a couple of aspects about his captaincy. What stood out for me was in the Australian first innings, Warner was going well and getting on top of Indian bowlers. He brought in Kuldeep Yadav (debutant) and he dismissed Warner.

"The second thing I remember was India chasing a low total and they lost a couple of wickets. Rahane just came in and attacked the Australian bowlers and scored some 20 odd (38 off 27 balls). I liked that approach."

"Look, as a captain, you always have two choices -- one is the aggressive route and the other is a conservative approach. I have believed that in Test cricket aggressive approach is must and Rahane is aggressive." While Chappell still believes that Australia might have a slight edge in Test matches but absence of a match-winner like David Warner in Adelaide will be an advantage for India.

"Everything that could have gone wrong with opening has gone wrong. Warner is out and Joe Burns has been struggling. Luke Pucovski after another concussion, I don't think it would be good to play him both in terms of confidence and medical point of view." "I think Australians will go with Joe Burns and Marcus Harris opening combination.

I thought Cameron Green would have played in Sydney but after his century in the warm-up game and a couple of wickets that he picked, there may be a temptation to play him in Adelaide," observed the decorated former Aussie captain.

Chappell also said that if Mitchell Starc is not available as he is out on compassionate grounds, there is a quality speedster in James Pattinson, who would replace him. "But top order is the biggest concern.

It's not just about Warner's presence but the manner in which he scores those runs as has detrimental effect on the opposition. In his absence, the responsibility will now be on Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne," Chappell said.