Ian Chappell believes India are lucky to have a stand-in captain like Rahane

After the completion of the third test match between India and Australia at Ranchi, there were doubts whether regular Indian skipper Virat Kohli would feature in the decider. But the 28-year-old ruled himself out of the final test at Dharamsala claiming that he is not 100 percent fit to take the field. This came as a huge blow to the Indian team and its fans even though India has a very good bench and lots of options to choose from.

Ajinkya Rahane, the right-handed batsman was made the stand-in captain of the Indian cricket team for the all important fourth test and he did not disappoint a bit. Rahane captained the side to victory in the match and helped India grab the Border-Gavaskar trophy in spectacular fashion. Ajinkya also played a very crucial knock when his team needed him in the second innings to see them past the finish line. He was aggressive from the very first moment and hit Aussie pacer Pat Cummins for two consecutive sixes en route to his 27-ball 38.

Australian legend Ian Chappell was all praise for the little man and said that India are very lucky to have a substitute captain like him. He also was happy with the style in which Rahane led the hosts from the front and also praised his aggression.

The former cricketer quoted “India are very very lucky to have a stand-in captain like Rahane. He did a fantastic job”

“It is not easy to do the job of a fill in because you know the actual captain has a got a certain style. So (in that situation), you think ‘what do I do? Do I try to copy that style’, and Rahane did the right thing. He captained in his own way I would say Rahane is aggressive in his own quiet way. You know you don’t have to be a gung ho captain to have the whole team behind you. You just need to do a good job and have the guys have faith in what you are doing”