India vs England: 'Kuch masala nahi milega,' Ajinkya Rahane rubbishes captaincy debate with Virat Kohli
India vs England: ‘Kuch masala nahi milega,’ Ajinkya Rahane rubbishes captaincy debate with Virat Kohli
India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane once again came in support for his skipper Virat Kohli, saying he "is and will continue to be my captain."
Following India's loss in the opening Test against England by 227 runs, Kohli had expressed disappointment over the body language of some players.
"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).
The body language might also be because of how the wicket behaved in the first two days of the opening Test. Virat is our captain, he will be our captain," Rahane said in a virtual press conference on Friday ahead of the second Test in Chennai.
In the recently concluded Down Under tour, Kohli returned home on paternity leave at the end of the first Test in Adelaide. In his absence, Rahane captained the side and led them to a memorable 2-1 win in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Last week, Kohli returned as India's captain in the first Test against England. Rahane has also said that he will give suggestions whenever Kohli asks as there are many things that go on in the captain's mind during a match.
"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," added Rahane.
Rahane has also backed opening batsman Rohit Sharma, who has come under scrutiny following his low scores in the first Test.
"Rohit (Sharma) is an important member of our team. A big score doesn't imply that you have to score a century or 150. He made important contributions in Australia. You can't judge a player over 4-6 innings or one or two matches. You need to back your players and Rohit is the kind of cricketer who has won matches for India. We know when Rohit gets set he scores big. We're really happy to have Rohit in the team," said Rahane.
India and England are set to meet again at Chennai's Chepauk Stadium for the second Test. The third and the fourth Tests are scheduled to be played at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Ahmedabad.