"Don't Understand The Thought Process": Ex-BCCI President's Blunt Take On Ajinkya Rahane's Elevation To Test Vice Captaincy
Ajinkya Rahane, 35, was out of favour for one-and-a-half years but was India's best batter in the World Test Championship final against Australia.
Sourav Ganguly finds it extremely baffling that Ajinkya Rahane has been handed Test vice captaincy after spending nearly 18 months on the sidelines as the former India skipper demanded "consistency and continuity" in the selection process. Rahane, 35, was out of favour for one-and-a-half years but was India's best batter in the World Test Championship final against Australia, with scores of 89 and 46 at the Oval, earlier this month.
Just one Test old after making a come back, the national selection committee headed by interim chief Shiv Sunder Das re-appointed Rahane as Rohit Sharma's deputy for the West Indies Test series.
So was it not ideal to groom someone like Shubman Gill for the role? "Yeah I think so," Ganguly told PTI during an exclusive interaction from London.
While he didn't term Rahane's ascendancy as a step backward, he didn't term it as a pragmatic decision.
"I won't say it's a step backward. You have been out for 18 months, then you play a Test and you become a vice-captain. I don't understand the thought process behind it. There is Ravindra Jadeja, who has been there for a long time and a certainty in Test matches, he is a candidate. But to just come back and straightway become vice-captain after 18 months, I don't understand. My only thing is that selection shouldn't be hot and cold. There has to be continuity and consistency in selection," Ganguly, one of India's finest Test captains, said.
BCCI and ICC did good job with choice of World Cup venuesÂ
While a few traditional centres like Mohali and Nagpur have missed out, Ganguly praised both ICC and BCCI bigwigs for good choice of venues.
"It's a great schedule and the allocation of the matches has been fantastic. BCCI and ICC have done a great job to give correct matches to correct venues and I know it is going to be a tremendous World Cup. I know how BCCI organises the IPL, they will make it a spectacle," he concluded.
India Cricket Team
Ajinkya Rahane