Rahane not thinking about captaincy, says Ishant Sharma will be missed in Australia

The inability to pick 20 Australian wickets has been the biggest challenge for the Indian team in the past during their tours to Australia. But the current bowling line up has the potential to outsmart the home team's batsmen in their own backyard. They produced such performances on their last tour and helped their team win a Test series in Australia for the first time in the history of Indian cricket. 

The challenge this time is stiffer though with the return of Steve Smith and David Warner. The latter will not play the first match but is certain to come back at some stage in the series. But India’s vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is hopeful of a performance from his pacers similar to the last time. However, he rues the absence of Ishant Sharma and said the team will certainly miss his experience of three tours to Australia in their defence of the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

"We do have a strong attack. We will miss Ishant, he is a senior fast bowler. But the guys who are here - Umesh (Yadav), (Navdeep) Saini, (Mohammad) Siraj with Jasprit (Bumrah) and (Mohammad) Shami - are all experienced and they know how to bowl in these conditions. It is all about bowling in partnerships for us," Rahane said in a virtually conducted press conference today.

For Rahane,  having early momentum in the big series will be a key factor and reiterated the importance of staying in the present and focusing on the first match of the series, which will be played under lights with a pink ball, and riding on the momentum for the remaining three matches.

 "We all know we did really well last time (in 2018/19). This is a new series starting with the pink ball. It's about getting the momentum. We have the attack to get 20 wickets. For us, it's important to start well and stay in the present. Just focusing on the pink ball Test and then focusing on the remaining matches," Rahane added.

While pacers will play the major role if India challenge Australia in their own backyard like the last series, Rahane is not discounting the advantage of having a world-class spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin. Ashwin had played the first Test in Adelaide on the last tour and was bowling well before getting ruled out due to injury. Ashwin also brings his batting pedigree as a value addition for the team and the fact is not lost on Rahane who is banking on Ashwin's reliability and variety to turn things around for the Indian team.

"Ashwin's role will be very important. He is experienced and has got variety in his bowling. His role as a bowler and as a batsman will be really important. I am sure he will have a very good series," Rahane said.

This series will be an all-new challenge for Rahane who will have to rise to the occasion, not only as a batsman, but also in marshalling his troops once Virat Kohli leaves Australia to return home for the birth of his first child. But Rahane’s ‘stay in the moment’ mantra for the team applies to himself as well. The right-hander has no specific ploys or tactics in his mind at the moment but only the first Test match and he is excited to contribute to the team and help Kohli in charting out strategies to win the first match.

"I believe in staying in the present. Right now, Virat is our captain. We think about this Test match and then after that, when he leaves, we will discuss our plans. For me, it's about giving my best in this Test match and helping Virat out,” Rahane responded thus to questions about his captaincy and Virat’s departure from Australia.

The Mumbai batsman has been a critical element of the Indian batting line up and was arguably the best batsmen across Test matches on tours to South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia (SENA), but failed to seize the opportunity and build on the experience of his first and a fairly successful overseas tour. He faltered on the next round of tours to these countries. But, he is not too bothered by his lack of runs on the previous tours and is focussing heavily on the upcoming one to make it fruitful with the bat both for him and the team. He hit a century in the first tour game against a good bowling attack of Australia A and looked in great touch before what promises to be a really tough series.

"As a player, you go through ups and downs. For me, out of 10 Test matches, I did really well in eight matches. For me, during the lockdown, fitness and diet were the priority. After coming here, it was about getting used to the conditions, the pitches and the bounce. Now, it is all about getting into the match zone and giving my best for the team."

Rahane bats in the middle and lower-middle order and he believes that intent plays a big role in his batting tactics. He values defence and perseverance in batting but believes that being in a positive frame of mind helps in scoring runs while batting down the order, especially when the opposition is going all guns blazing in search of wickets.

"When you bat at no.5, no.6, you have to read the situation and play accordingly. For me, it is all about playing with intent and what the team demands from me in that situation. I visualise that and play accordingly. Intent does not mean going out there and playing all the shots, it comes with defence and leaving the ball. A positive mindset is very important,” he added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced players to travel country to country in a biosecure bubble and players need a lot of motivation and mental toughness to deal with the challenges of sustained periods of time in a bubble. Rahane said that the conditions in Australia have been better and in any case the Indian players are not losing sleep over being under isolation and instead are focusing on performances in the series.

"When you play for your country, you don't need to tell anyone anything. That's the motivation. Luckily in Australia, the situation is much better. Now, it is about thinking about the series rather than focusing on other things," the man who has captained India in absence of Kohli said.

There are wide-ranging debates going on who should be the opener for the Indian team and many experts and foreign cricketers are weighing in with their picks to choose among Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill to partner Mayank Agarwal who has earned a place for himself at the top of the order. Rahane refused to get lured into the debate of rating his own teammates and said that the decision to pick the playing XI will be taken at an appropriate time.

"Everyone is equally good. We have not decided on our combination, we will sit tomorrow. There is one more practice session to go. Everyone is equally talented. Whoever plays can win matches, it is about trusting the players," Rahane added.

The hosts Australians too have a fair share of problems to deal with and the Indian team under the twin leadership of Virat Kohli-Ajinkya Rahane can challenge them in their own backyard, albeit not without bringing all they have to offer in their performances.

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