Virat Kohli's absence after the first Test in the upcoming Test series against Australia is seen as a big setback for the Indian team in the batting order. However, on the captaincy front, former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell believes that India have got a "very good replacement" for Kohli in Ajinkya Rahane.
The Mumbai batsman, who is the vice-captain of the team in the longest format, is likely to lead India in the remaining three Tests in Australia.
In a conversation with West Indies' Michael Holding on the latter's YouTube channel, Chappell referred to the fourth Test between India and Australia in the 2017 series, where the Rahane-led team defeated the Aussies by 8 wickets to clinch the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
"As far as captaincy is concerned, I saw Ajinkya Rahane captain in one Test match against Australia when Australia were in India a few years back and it was the deciding Test match. And I was very, very impressed with Rahane's captaincy," Chappell said.
With the series poised at 1-1, Rahane captained the side after Virat Kohli faced an injury.
"I thought he was very positive, very aggressive. When the game was in the balance, he always took the aggressive option and he batted well at a time when India were probably going to win anyhow but things had got a little bit shaky. And he came in and took on Pat Cummins and took them home to victory," Chappell further said.
Chasing a 106-run target, India faced a brief setback when the side lost Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara in the same over. However, Rahane brought out a counter-attacking game, scoring an unbeaten 38 off just 27 balls to steer India to win.
"At least, they have got a very good replacement captain. And the other thing is if Australia, I don't think they will do this, if Australia thinks that 'Kohli is gone home and all we have to do is turn up', if they think like that, it will be a big mistake. I don't think they will be complacent," Chappell further said.
