India vs Australia: “They are both Indians” – Sachin Tendulkar opens up on Kohli-Rahane captaincy debate

Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has opened up about the raging Kohli-Rahane Test captaincy debate.

2020 hasn’t been a great year for the usually consistent Virat Kohli. The Indian captain failed to score a single century in any format of the game. In addition, his leadership skills also came under fire this year. Earlier in the year, India lost the Test series against New Zealand. In the much-awaited India vs Australia series, the national side lost the ODI series and suffered a debacle in the Adelaide Test.

However, Virat Kohli returned home after the first Test for his paternity leave and vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane took over the captaincy in his absence. Under Rahane’s leadership India turned around it’s performance and triumphed in the Boxing Day Test despite all the obstacle standing in it’s way.

Since then a debate has been raging on giving Rahane the permanent Test captaincy even though India has an enviable Test record under Kohli. The latter is India’s most successful Test captain in history. Under him, the team has won 33 out of 56 matches played. Kohli has a success rate of over 50%. However, the recent incidents have sparked a debate on removing Kohli from Test captaincy.

Former India batter, Sachin Tendulkar has opened up on the Kohli-Rahane captaincy debate saying “that they are both Indians” and play for the same side. “People shouldn’t get into comparisons with Virat. Ajinkya has different personality. His intent was aggressive. I would like to remind everyone that they are both Indians and they both play for India, so no individuals comes above India. Team and country is above everything else,” Tendulkar told PTI.

“It was a well-planned ball and wicket by Ashwin”

One of the reasons that India has been successful in restraining the Australian batsmen in the ongoing series is that Steve Smith has been struggling. The recently announced ICC Men’s Test Cricketer of the Decade has had a miserable time in the middle as he has struggled to score runs in the two Tests so far. Smith has hit just 10 runs in 4 innings as the batting unit failed to put up decent targets as a whole.

Much of the onus for Smith’s struggle falls on ace spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The 32-year old Indian bowler has spun a web around the Aussie in the Test series. So far, Ashwin has dismissed Smith twice while continuously troubling him with his variations and lengths.

Sachin Tendulkar also spoke about the duel between the two and how Ashwin has gained the upper hand in the contest so far. “In the first Test, Smith got out to an arm ball or you can call it a straighter which Ashwin releases differently. An off-spinner bowls a straighter which skids off the surface when fingers are not on top of the ball,” he told PTI.

He further explained that Ashwin has managed to make the ball bounce and turn in Australia. “In the second Test, it was not a slider but fingers were on top of the ball which produced bounce and turn,” he said. “Steve Smith played a normal flick to a regulation off-break that any batsman does by instinct and fielder was brilliantly placed there,” he added.

“It was a well-planned ball and wicket by Ashwin. Both are class players, so someone is going to have a better day and so far, Ashwin has come out winner in first two Tests,” he said.

Also Read: India vs Australia: Umesh Yadav flies back following scans, T Natarajan likely to be added to Test squad