Sunil Gavaskar says there won’t be any pressure on Ajinkya Rahane when he takes over from Virat Kohli against Australia.
Rahane is set to take on the leadership of India’s Test team for the final three matches Down Under once Kohli heads home to be with his pregnant wife.
Legendary Indian batsman Gavaskar believes Rahane shouldn’t be worried about taking on the temporary role.
“There is no real pressure on Ajinkya Rahane because both the times that he has led the team, he has won. He led against Australia at Dharamshala and India won. He led against Afghanistan and India won,” he told Star Sports.
“So, as far as his captaincy is concerned, there is going to be no pressure because he knows he is at the moment, only the stand-in captain for the three Test matches.”
Gavaskar, 71, also believes focusing on his batting will be just as important.
“I don't think the fact about being a captain or carrying on as captain is going to be part of his thinking at all,” he added.
“He will do the job as honestly as he plays his cricket, which means, as a batsman, he will go out there and try and let Pujara try and grind the opposition in and play few more shots maybe,” he added.
Australia in a Better Place, says Lyon
Meanwhile, Australia spin star Nathan Lyon says the team are in a much better position than when India beat them in the last Test series in Australia.
Kohli’s men came away with a 2-1 series success in 2018-19.
Lyon said: “We obviously know what happened in the last series against India and how well they played.
“We have spoken about that and come up with few different plans.
“I can't reveal my plans for Indians to read about but there is a great vibe in this Australian team and we are in far better place than we were two years ago.
“It's exciting and the tightest Aussie team that I have been a part of. We have done a bit of homework and ready to go.”