News Analysis India

Tag: Ajinkya Rahane

  • Under Rahane’s leadership, three changes likely for visitors at MCG

    36 all out, eight wickets defeat, captain Virat Kohli flew back home and now a depleted, demoralised Indian team will have to face the mighty Australians in the Boxing Day Test at MCG. The odds are stacked up for the Indian team ahead of the 2nd Test. But trailing by 1-0 already in the four-match series, India will have to fight back hard to get back into the game. Leading the charge will be Ajinkya Rahane, who will also have the hard task of lifting the spirits of the team back up ahead of the 2nd Test.

    Shubman Gill had a good showing in the limited-overs series in Australia, and he only played better than Prithvi Shaw in the warm-up game. Shaw got a chance in Adelaide but he could not grasp the brass ring, and now Gill may get his chance at MCG.

    Mayank Agarwal struggled in the first Test, but he is likely to get another chance. If he can hold one end for two sessions, he can put his team in a good spot.

  • Shubman Gill, Mohammed Siraj To Make Debuts; Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja Also In Playing XI

    India on Friday named their playing XI for the second Test against Australia starting December 26 with Test debuts handed to Shubman Gill and Mohammed Siraj. Gill comes in for Prithvi Shaw and is likely to open the batting while Siraj replaces the injured Mohammed Shami. Rishabh Pant replaces Wriddhiman Saha behind the stumps even as Ajinkya Rahane steps up to lead the team in the absence of Virat Kohli. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has also been included in the XI as India go in with five bowling options for the Boxing Day Test.

    Mayank Agarwal will most likely have a new opening partner in Gill even as Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahane and Hanuma Vihari occupy the middle-order slots.

    Ravindra Jadeja is likely to bat No. 6 followed by wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant, who enjoyed a superlative Test tour to Australia in 2018-19.

    In the absence of Mohammed Shami, who suffered a fracture in his right arm, India have bolstered their bowling attack by including Jadeja in addition to handing a debut to fast bowler Siraj.

    Jasprit Bumrah and Umesh Yadav are the other fast bowlers while R Ashwin is the specialist spinner.

  • It’s Ajinkya Rahane’s time to step up, says Virat Kohli

    Team India displayed clarity of mind ahead of what is expected to be a tough pink-ball challenge by naming their XI a day ahead of the first Test in Adelaide, even as Australia decided to keep their line-up “in-house” until the game.
    India didn’t fall for the most talked-about swap, deciding to stick with Prithvi Shaw at the top of the order to partner Mayank Agarwal instead of handing a Test cap to Shubman Gill.

    India also chose to persist with offie Ashwin, shelving the idea of an all-pace line-up, and opted for the more skilled Wriddhiman Saha as wicketkeeper.

    Whether this advance announcement will set a trend for the series is unknown, since the team’s real challenges may begin after this Test with ‘bedrock’ Virat Kohli leaving for home. Vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane will lead the side but it will be hard to replace both Kohli’s constant leadership presence and ability as batsman.
    Kohli, however, gave the impression that India’s plans for the series had largely been set, and Rahane merely had to execute those plans.

  • India six down, lose last four in 5 overs

    Team India-led by Ajinkya Rahane are facing Australia A for a three-day tour game in Sydney where the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first. It is a dress rehearsal for the first Test to be played in Adelaide from December 17. The day-night game in Sydney will allow the players to get a feel of conditions during India’s first-ever overseas day-night Test.

    The practice game, which is being streamed live, will be India’s final chance to sort out their combinations ahead of the first Test, starting in Adelaide, from December 17.

    The touring Indians don’t have enough experience of facing the pink ball in top-flight cricket, having played only one such Test against Bangladesh last year. India though won that game, held at the Eden Gardens, by a handsome margin of innings and 46 runs.

    Ajinkya Rahane (C), Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Hanama Vihari, Rishabh Pant, Wriddhiman Saha, Navdeep Saini, Mohd. Shami, Mohd. Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah

    Joe Burns, Marcus Harris, Nic Maddinson, Ben McDermott, Cameron Green, Jack Wildermuth, Alex Carey, Sean Abbott, Will Sutherland, Mitch Swepson, Harry Conway

  • David Warner Says India Has Talent To Fill Rohit Sharma’s Shoes In The White-ball Leg

    Australian opener David Warner feels Rohit Sharma’s absence is a big loss for the Indian team but asserted that the visitors are well equipped to have in-form replacements. Rohit has been rested for the limited-overs series against Australia that gets underway on November 27. KL Rahul will be the vice-captain for the white-ball of Team India’s tour Down Under.

    Sharma might not be featuring in the limited-overs series but the Mumbai batsman has been roped in for the Test series. With Rohit Sharma’s inclusion in India’s Test squad for the Australia series, it is likely that the opening batsman will also lead the team, after Kohli’s departure. Ajinkya Rahane, the Test vice-captain, could also be leading the squad in place of Virat Kohli. However, there has been no final decision on it yet. 

    Meanwhile, regular skipper Virat Kohli will be captaining the side in the first Test at the Adelaide Oval that will be played under lights on December 17. Nonetheless, the batting megastar would be heading back to India after the Test match to be with his wife Anushka Sharma as they are expecting their first child in January

  • David Warner on Virat Kohli missing Test series

    Before India travelled to Australia for the upcoming series, a huge news came from the BCCI camp – India captain Virat Kohli was granted paternity leave and will only play the first Test of the four-match Test series starting December 17th. The decision meant that vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane may have to step up as captain to lead the Indian team Down Under in the longest format.

    While cricketing pundits have acknowledged Kohli’s decision to spend time with his family as the correct one, the fans continue to wonder if the Indian team can pose a challenge to the Australian team in Kohli’s absence.

    Australia start opening batsman David Warner was asked in a virtual press conference facilitated by the official broadcaster Sony, regarding his thoughts on Rahane leading the Indian team. In his reply, Warner said that Rahane would bring a different approach to captaincy than Kohli.

  • Indian cricket team practiced fiercely in Sydney

    The Indian cricket team is practicing heavily in Sydney for the series against Australia. The Indian team practiced with a red and pink ball on Tuesday in Sydney.

    Sharing a video of the team’s practice, Lokesh Rahul tweeted, “It feels good to be back in blue.” Indian captain Virat Kohli also shared a video of the team’s practice and wrote, “Test cricket Like to practice for.

    The series between India and Australia will begin with a one-day match and the team will play the first match on 27 November. The second ODI will be held on 29 November and the third ODI will be held on 2 December. After this, the T20 series will begin on December 4. The Test series will begin from December 17 after three T20 matches.

    India has to play three ODIs, three T20s and four Tests in this tour. Indian captain Virat will return home after playing the first Test in Adelaide in Australia due to the birth of his first child. The Indian team will play the last three Tests in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane without their regular captain Virat and Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in his absence.

  • In 2015, I wasn’t able to make ends meet’ – KKR‘s Varun Chakravarthy gives emotional speech after fifer against DC

    Kolkata Knight Riders on sensational performances from Nitish Rana, Sunil Narine and off-spinner Varun Chakravarthy to pick up a thumping 59-run win over Delhi Capitals. While Nitish Rana hammered 81 runs in 53 balls, Narine smashed 64 runs in 32 balls as KKR posted a target of 195 for DC to chase.In the chase, DC captain Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant stitched a good partnership following the early departure of both openers Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane. But Iyer and Pant could not surpass the test that spinner Varun Chakravarthy posed in front of DC. (IPL 2020 Full Coverage)

    Chakravarthy picked up five wickets with 20 runs in his 4 overs in the match as KKR picked up two points. After the match, at the post-match presentation ceremony, the bowler was given the man of the match and he recalled his time as an architect and how it was hard for him to make ends meet at the time.

    “This is surreal. The last few games I didn’t get wickets. I wanted to get one or two today, but thank god I got five. I enjoyed Shreyas Iyer’s wicket the most. I was bowling to the shorter boundary so I had to attack the stumps,” the bowler said.