Time for Ajinkya Rahane to forget pain, show captaincy skills

New Delhi: Few days back, technically sound batsman Ajinkya Rahane would have been in a state of shock when Indian skipper MS Dhoni dropped the right-hander from the last two ODIs against Bangladesh. 

Even after being the most consistent Indian batsman in the recent past, in all three formats, Rahane faced the axe as Dhoni gave a vauge excuse by stating that whenever he batted at No. 4 or 5, he had a problem in freely rotating the strike at the start of his innings. 

The shocking decision must have hurt the 27-year-old. And on Monday, Rahane got another shocker, this time from the BCCI's national selection committee, who selected him to replace Dhoni as a stand-in skipper for the forthcoming away series in Zimbabwe.

Look at the irony, few days back, Rahane, who faced the axe from the ODI team, is now set to lead it, in  the absence of senior players like Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma. 

It would be a new responsibility on his young shoulders as he has never led a national team before.  

Known as a calm and cool cricketer, it would be interesting to see Rahane's approach when he leads Team India in three ODIs and two T20Is.

Can a second-string Team India beat an improved Zimbabwe side? in Sports on LockerDome