5 things that showed Ajinkya Rahane can be a great bet as a captain

#2 Not afraid to take bold decisions

The decision to include Kuldeep turned out to be a masterstroke

Whether it was playing with five bowlers when the team’s top batsman was missing or giving the untested Kuldeep Yadav his debut, Rahane showed the world that he was not afraid of taking risky and yet, brave decisions.

Rahane knew that this was a one-off Test when he would be captain. When your top batsman is missing and additionally, the opposition bowlers have been bowling in tandem, what does a new captain do? Play it safe and include another batsman, right? Rahane, however, chose to include a fifth bowler. He was quick to realise that to win a Test match you need to take 20 wickets.

The fact that Kuldeep was picked ahead of the likes of Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma on a pitch that is known to assist pacers was yet another masterstroke. Ishant was visibly tired from the long season and Shami was just coming back from an injury lay-off. On the other hand, Kuldeep was fresh and, more importantly, was an unknown entity.

On the hindsight, it was the decisions that Rahane took in his first Test as a captain that paved the way for India’s victory more than anything else.