He was dropped out of the playing XI against Bangladesh in the last two one-days, he hardly has 55 ODIs under his belt, his batting average is also below par but 10 days from now and you would see him leading the Indian side against Zimbabwe in the proposed three ODIs & two T20Is.

Chaos would occupy the Rajasthan Royals lad Ajinkya Rahane who in addition to captaining the side would also play to seize his berth during his ‘non-captaincy’ matches.

Playing against Zimbabwe is one thing but playing against them after losing a series to Bangladesh is altogether a different kettle of fish. But credit must be given to the selectors who granted the seniors their requested rest and provided the opportunity to the best among the rest. Some are calling it a second-string team while others are seeing it as a brave move keeping in mind the 2016 T20 world cup.

No matter how one takes it but the team indeed looks fresh & rejuvenated.

They say a chain is only as strong as its weakest links and this team is an attempt to make the weak links stronger thereby strengthening the chain. The likes of Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu & Manoj Tiwari are always a captain’s delight and the skipper would be more than delighted if they walk the talk.

Amongst the new and some ‘not-so-new’ faces, all eyes would be on the doyen of the Indian team, turbanator Harbhajan Singh. It may probably be the last chance for him to make his ‘Dusra’ count.

Dhoni would now think of eating his words when he blamed Rahane of his inability to rotate the strike and showed him the way out of the last two matches. It is hard to swallow how he judged him that way in the very first match of the series. The selectors though were not in synch with him and didn’t hesitate to offer Rahane Dhoni’s position. The message is loud and clear from the selectors, ‘We have faith in him.’

‘Why Rahane & why not some regular face’ is something over which one can debate till the cows come home but after nearly escaping the ‘Banglawash’ and now the regular names missing from the Indian squad, India would definitely begin as underdogs.

Beating Zimbabwe may not be a cake walk but would definitely be an icing on the cake for Ajinkya if India comes home invincible in both the formats.

By: Kapil Sanadhya