If you're looking for masala, you're not going to get it here: Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane staunchly backed Virat Kohli’s leadership, reiterating that the latter is the skipper of the Indian team and will remain so. Ajinkya Rahane stated the same while answering a question on Team India’s body language during the 227-run loss to England.
Virat Kohli has come under fire after the England loss. He has lost his last 4 Tests as skipper and with a World Test Championship final berth at stake, the pressure is high on the captain to deliver at home.
Ajinkya Rahane spoke to the media on Friday and suggested they would not get any incendiary comments against Virat Kohli.
"Yes, it's true, sometimes players don't have energy on the field (on Virat Kohli's comment at the end of the first Test). It's not because the captain changed. If you're looking for masala, you're not going to get it here,” Rahane said.
Ajinkya Rahane made the statement when asked about Virat Kohli’s post-match comments after the Chennai loss. The skipper's statements about the team’s body language grabbed the limelight, as Kohli said:
“Our body language and intensity were not up to the mark, second innings we were much better. We were better in the second half of the first innings with the bat”
Ajinkya Rahane surprised by Chennai pitch
The vice-captain also discussed the state of the Chepauk wicket. The surface used for the 1st game attracted heavy criticism, as many slammed it for not aiding the bowlers enough. Ahead of the 2nd Test, Ajinkya Rahane admitted the pitch for the next match looks completely different.
"Yeah, it looks completely different. I am sure it will turn from day 1 but again as I have said before the first Test match, you have to wait and see how it plays in the first session and take it from there on," he said.
Another disappointment from the 1st Test was the poor performance of the spinners. Barring Ravichandran Ashwin, the Indian spinners struggled to trouble English batsmen. While Shahbaz Nadeem proved to be expensive, Washington Sundar went wicketless on home turf.
But Ajinkya Rahane isn’t too concerned about their performance, putting their poor outing down to external factors.
"There was nothing on that wicket. If you see the second innings, all our spinners, especially Ashwin bowled really well. We are not too concerned about how our spinners are bowling and I am sure we will come out with a plan," he concluded.