January 2, 2015 by admin

Rahane, Ashwin in fray to become Kohli’s deputy

New Delhi, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s retirement has also given rise to a question as to who will be Virat Kohli’s deputy with the names of Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin emerging as possible candidates.“It will be interesting to see what is the choice of the selection committee led by Sandeep Patil and the feedback that they get from Team Director Ravi Shastri. Ravi’s point of view will be key in this regard. As of now, the two players who are in with a chance are Rahane and Ashwin,” a BCCI source said.According to the sources, Rahane, who is now a permanent fixture across all three formats, looks to be a front-runner but Ashwin by virtue of his seniority cannot be ruled out altogether.“What works for Rahane is his calm demeanour which could possibly complement Kohli’s aggressive intent. They could prove to be ideal foils for each other. Also Rahane has the performance to merit that place (1026 runs in 13 Tests with 3 centuries),” the official said.While 28-year-old Ashwin is senior in terms of number of Test matches (23 Tests, 114 wickets, 956 runs), there have been times when he has not found a place in the playing XI in Test matches in overseas conditions. — PTI