'You have been out for 18 months, then you play a Test and you....' - Sourav Ganguly amazed by re-appointment of Ajinkya Rahane as vice-captain

Former captain of the Indian cricket team, Sourav Ganguly has expressed surprise over the decision to re-appoint Ajinkya Rahane as India's vice-captain in Tests. Team India has to play the first Test match of the 2 Test series on the West Indies tour from 12th July. Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed as the vice-captain of the team for this Test series.

With a half-century against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, the seasoned batsman Ajinkya Rahane made a commendable comeback in Test Cricket. He finished the game as India's top scorer with 89 and 46 in both innings as the other star players struggled. His performance at The Oval not only solidified his position on the team but also restored his position as vice-captain in the game's longest format.

In an interview with PTI, Ganguly expressed his tremendous perplexity at Ajinkya Rahane's selection as Test vice-captain after nearly 18 months of inactivity. He didn't define Rahane's ascent as a step backwards and neither did he characterize it as a sensible choice.

“I won’t say it is a step backwards. 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 is a certainty in Test matches, he is a candidate. But to just come back and straightway becomes vice-captain after 18 months, I don’t understand,” the former India captain expressed as reported by News 18.

Rahane excelled in the Ranji Trophy earlier this year. The star right-hand batter scored 634 runs in 11 innings while captaining Mumbai, including a few hundreds and a fifty, with the highest score being 204. Later, he made his Chennai Super Kings debut with a thunderous 19-ball fifty, and he was a key contributor to the team's sixth championship triumph.

It was this steady play which allowed the Mumbai-born batter to re-enter the Indian dressing room after an absence of 18 months, although a number of former cricketers have questioned his rapid promotion to Rohit Sharma's assistant. Sourav Ganguly, a former BCCI president and captain of India, is the newest member of the bandwagon.