Ajinkya Rahane has taken command of India in Tests on many occasions. Rahane was the vice-captain of the test team during Virat Kohli’s captaincy. He has captained the team many times in Kohli’s absence. This includes the Border-Gavaskar Trophy from 2017 and 2020-21. Both the spectacular and historic victories came under Rahane’s captaincy. Former Indian team outfield coach R Sridhar made a big reveal about Rahane’s captaincy. He said what kind of captain Rahane was.
Sridhar told an anecdote about Rahane in his book ‘Coaching Beyond’. He wrote: “Make no mistake; Ajinkya was not a weak character. The incident occurred when Prithvi Shaw was playing short leg in a warm-up game at Drummoyne, Sydney. The batsman made a sweep and Prithvi was struck by the ball. Ajinkya was quick on his case as he tried to get out of the park towards the dressing room. From his gliding position, he could clearly see where Prithvi had struck, which was on the Shin Pad.
He further wrote: “Rahane walked up to him and said firmly, ‘Not one more step. No one will come in your place on the field. I know nothing is wrong with you. I saw the ball hit your shin guard. You may be looking for an opportunity to come back, but it won’t happen. Go to the short leg and take your position. Prithvi knew that his bluff had been found out, and Ajinkya quietly told the others that he would make no excuses. I was very relieved that I had to go as a substitute player as we only had 11 players for that match.
Rahane has so far captained the India team in a total of 6 test matches, in which the team won 4 and 2 matches ended in a draw. His winning percentage as test captain was 66.66. He has captained India in four test matches against Australia and the team has won 3 of them.