Why Ajinkya Rahane was picked as India vice-captain for West Indies series?

Among other changes, Ajinkya Rahane has been handed the vice-captain role for the West Indies Tests. The Indian batter has rejuvenated himself in recent months and played in fantastic fashion for the team.

But Rahane hasn’t had all rosy in the last 12 months or so. The batter lost his spot from the Indian Test team and then was subsequently axed out of BCCI’s contracts last year. He had a fantastic domestic season and then backed it up with an excellent IPL 2023 campaign.

But it was injuries to other players which in the end proved to be the factor that brought Rahane back in the Indian team. Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul’s unavailability meant the Mumbai batter was included in the WTC Final 2023 squad.

And at the Oval, Rahane showed his true gem with two decent knocks for the Indian team. Despite a damaging defeat, Rahane was the solitary bright spark for the Indian team with two gritty knocks against a dominant Australian attack.

But was that enough to warrant a vice-captain role so soon? If we dissect the decision of Rahane as vice captain, we may find a pragmatic angle in it.

Rahane has prior experience

Among the Indian players, Ajinkya Rahane has the prior experience of being a deputy. With Virat Kohli not interested in vice-captain role, Rahane is the sole player with significant experience behind his back. There were other options like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, BCCI decided to hand Rahane the opportunity for his previous stint as a leader.

Rahane’s success as stand-in captain in Australia back in 2021-22 is still a vivid memory. The crafty player was excellent as a leader for the Indian team in that tour and with a reinvigorated status, the player may exert same impact in the upcoming series.

Rahane is only a short-term fix

The decision to choose Ajinkya Rahane as deputy has raised the short-sightedness of the India selectors. To be honest, the decision itself is only for a temporary fix.

KL Rahul, the designated India vice-captain is out injured, so are Rishabh Pant and Jasprit Bumrah. With the reluctance to appoint either Ravichandran Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja as vice-captain, it looks like Rahane was the only one the selectors could seek to.

But still there will be questions which may emerge. What if Rahane shines and scores tons of runs in the West Indies series? Will he still remain deputy then in the upcoming South Africa tour? It remains to be answered.