Why Not Appoint Ajinkya Rahane As Captain For The West Indies Test Series

It is out-of-the-box thinking, but one that needs to be addressed by the BCCI’s senior national selection committee with purpose and urgency. Willy-nilly, Ajinkya Rahane — not on annual retainership — appears to have returned to captaincy stakes after his triumphant comeback to the national ranks for the multi-day Test match cricket. Rahane is not naive to the leadership role; he was the captain of the Indian team that scored a remarkable series win in Australia after the team was shot out for 36 in the second innings at Adelaide in December 2020. He has led India in 6 Tests and won four, three against Australia. He has not lost a Test match. Rahane has an average of 39.89 as captain scoring 359 runs in 11 innings. The soft-spoken Mumbaikar has made quite an impression as a leader, and the selection committee, without a chairman, could look at him for the series in the West Indies.  In fact, the selection committee — after India’s dismal display in the ICC WTC final at The Oval — must take the opportunity to look to bring in new players with a good record in the domestic tournaments. India has gone down in two WTC finals because of its stereotype policies — including the decision to drop Ravichandran Ashwin — and hence the time is upon the selection committee to usher changes, and quickly too.