Rahane welcomes return of the king

FRESH from leading India to their sensational victory over Australia, stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane is only too happy to let Virat Kohli return as king.

Rahane took the reins Down Under in three of the four matches, with his side 1-0 down, as Kohli left the tour as agreed for the birth of his first child, a daughter.

In Kohli’s absence, Rahane led from the front with a ton in the second-Test win in Melbourne before overseeing the rarest of victories at the Gabba.

But despite his obvious leadership qualities, it is as a right-hand man that Rahane feels he can be most effective against England.

“Virat is the captain and I’m the vice-captain,” said Rahane. “I’m really happy that he’s back with us because it’s really positive.

“He’s batting really well and you know his record. As a team we are just focusing on playing together and as a unit, and just playing to our strengths. My job is to take a back seat and try to help with that.

“There are a lot of things on a captain’s mind, so as a vice-captain you have to visualise the situation and think about what can happen in the game. Then, if the captain asks you for some suggestions, you should be ready.

“My job is really easy. I take a back seat but whenever I’m required or he asks me about certain things I’ll just go and tell him. That helps us a lot.”

India at home are just about the toughest assignment in world cricket, but Rahane reckons there will be no complacency from them against an England team with some familiar faces.

“England are a very good, balanced team and they did really well in Sri Lanka,” he added.

“They’ve got Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, and they are really good players who have done really well for England.

“We don’t think too much about complacency. We know our strengths. We still respect the England team, they are a very good team and we’ll have to play good cricket.”