India tour of Zimbabwe 2015: Will the Ajinkya Rahane gamble work?

Ajinkya Rahane was selected as the skipper of the India squad for the tour of Zimbabwe.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced its squad for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour at an event in New Delhi on Monday. Ajinkya Rahane was named captain of the Indian side that is scheduled to play the first game on July 10. Amit Banerjee analyses BCCI’s decision and its impact on the team in its upcoming events.

India have been playing non-stop cricket since November last year, leaving the players badly in need of a break. Their prayers were answered when BCCI’s selection committee announced the squad for the tour of Zimbabwe, which consists of three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20I). Several key players were rested for the tour, including the likes of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Ravichandran Ashwin.

BCCI decided to unveil its skipper in the form of Ajinkya Rahane, who has emerged as a batting mainstay of the Indian team, especially over the past couple of years. While BCCI announced faith in Rahane, one cannot help but have doubts as far as Rahane’s leadership goes. READ: India squad for Zimbabwe tour announced

The Mumbai batsman has had the experience of leading the U-17 Indian team as well as leading the Mumbai team on two different occasions — in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game and a Vijay Hazare Trophy game, both as stand-in captain. With little leadership experience to back his resume, the selectors might have just played a major gamble when it came to picking the leader of the side.

Experience is also a major factor when it comes to picking the captain of a side. It is in this respect that one tends to question the reason why Harbhajan Singh was not considered for the role, especially him representing India in 102 Tests and 229 ODIs in a career that has spanned nearly 17 years. READ: Sending second-string side has more pros than cons

Rahane’s leadership in the ODIs and T20Is will be scrutinised by the media, fans and selectors alike, and it is in this regard that he must maintain his cool, and more importantly, not let his form drop. He enjoyed a good run with the bat during the 2014 tour of England as well as the 2014-15 tour of Australia and had a fantastic run with the bat during the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015. Let us hope Rahane plays a central role in the upcoming series, and inspire the youngsters in the side at the same time. READ: India must tweak team following ODI series loss to Bangladesh

(Amit Banerjee, a reporter at CricketCountry, takes keen interest in photography, travelling, technology, automobiles, food and, of course, cricket. He can be followed on Twitter via his handle @akb287)

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