Ajinkya Rahane can take over as India Test captain if he regains consistency, says Wasim Jaffer

Should Ajinkya Rahane grow consistent, he’d make a good captaincy option for Team India after Rohit Sharma calls it quits, believes former Indian batter Wasim Jaffer.

“Consistency has been an issue, he will have to overcome it because India has a good captaincy option in him after Rohit Sharma is done. Rahane will have to make runs, and then everything else will follow,” Jaffer said Friday on JioCinema.

Rahane, who has had a career depression before this domestic season, has led the Indian side in the past in Tests, and done so successfully to boot. Virat Kohli left for India following the birth of his child after the first Test in the 2020-21 tour of Australia, it was Rahane who took the reins. After taking a bad beating in the first Test, India came out as the series winners under Rahane’s leadership.

However, after his stellar ton in Melbourne, his form dipped and it took him long to find his rhythm back.

“If his form was great from that Australia series after that 36 all-out, the way he led, scored a hundred in Melbourne… had his form remained the same, he would have been the next Test captain. But he lost his form and got dropped,” said Jaffer.

Rahane made his entry back into India’s Test side for the World Test Championship final in June on the back of a successful run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Chennai Super Kings.

“He reinvented himself in the IPL and got a chance in the WTC final,” Jaffer said. Rahane played a crucial role at the WTC; He saved India the humiliation of a follow-on with an 89-run anchoring knock and also played a cameo in the second innings.

Underscoring Rahane’s appointment as the vice-captain for the two-match Test series on the ongoing tour of West Indies, Jaffer pointed out the fact that the selectors still saw a good leader in him with experience on his side. However, he stressed that for this to play out in Rahane’s favour it was important that he did well with the bat first.

“He was appointed the vice-captain as well because the Indian selectors see a good leader in him. He still has age on his side but he needs to score runs, if he does not then he will find it difficult,” he added.