As vice-captain, my role is to keep set of plans ready if needed: Ajinkya Rahane

Indian Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane revealed that his role as deputy to skipper Virat Kohli was more of letting the latter take control of the game. Ajinkya Rahane's role was to keep back-up plans ready in case the need arises.

Ajinkya Rahane was handed the Test vice-captaincy in 2016 when India toured the West Indies. Virat Kohli has led the Indian team fantastically and has taken them to the zenith of the ICC Test rankings.

Ajinkya Rahane is happy to take a backseat while Virat Kohli manages the proceedings. However, he always gives suggestions to the Indian skipper if he feels something needs to be conveyed or if he feels that the plan may not work.

“Basically, my role as vice-captain is to take the backseat. I don’t get too involved in the proceedings. The captain already has a lot of thoughts in his mind. As a vice-captain, my role is to keep my set of plans ready. Of course, there are times that I give instinctive suggestions but mostly I take the backseat. When Virat needs a suggestion at a point of time, then I should be ready with the answers, that how we should plan at this juncture of the match,” Ajinkya Rahane told ESPNCricinfo.

Leading India in absence of Virat Kohli was pretty special for me: Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane got to captain India in the longest format for the first time during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2017. Australia were playing good cricket and had managed to take the series to a decider in the fourth Test at Dharamsala.

Virat Kohli had injured his shoulder in the third Test at Ranchi and he was not fit enough to lead the Indian side in the final Test. This is where Ajinkya Rahane got his chance and he backed his instinct by playing Kuldeep Yadav instead of playing an extra batsman. This worked wonders as Kuldeep Yadav set up a fine victory for India and they won the series 2-1.

"Leading India was pretty special for me, particularly in that Test match, which was a crucial one (against Australia in 2017). I had never thought that I would be captaining the team. I was told that I’ll be informed on the eve of the match, maybe because of Virat’s fitness tests, if I’ll be leading the team in the next match,” Ajinkya Rahane said

Ajinkya Rahane had no clue that he was going to lead India in that game and thus it was even more special that India won the Test and the series under his captaincy.