Sourav Ganguly baffled with Rahane’s elevation to Test vice-captaincy

Sourav Ganguly finds it extremely baffling that Ajinkya Rahane has been handed Test vice captaincy after spending nearly 18 months on the sidelines

New Delhi: 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 comeback, 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?

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“Yeah I think so,” Ganguly said 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.

The Indian selectors have hit the transition button by excluding a batter of Chetshwar Pujara’ stature and Ganguly wants that communication channel should be clear with a player, who has featured in more than 100 Tests for India.

“Selectors should have a clear idea about him (Pujara). Do they need him to play Test cricket anymore or do they want to continue with youngsters and communicate it to him. Somebody like Pujara can’t be dropped, then picked, dropped again and then picked. Same with Ajinkya Rahane also,” the straight-talking Ganguly said.

There has been a overgrowing feeling that even to get a nod in Test cricket, one needs to have a solid IPL like Ruturaj Gaikwad had. Ganguly, though, disagrees with that notion. He said a prolific batter like Sarfaraz Khan, who could not do well in IPL, should get a chance to prove himself.

“I think Yashasvi Jaiswal has scored tons of runs in Ranji Trophy, Irani Trophy, Duleep Trophy. I think that’s why he is in the squad. I feel for Sarfaraz Khan. At some point he should get an opportunity for the amount of runs that he has scored in past three years.”