India’s head coach Ravi Shastri and Indian captain Virat Kohli have been under severe criticism ever since they announced the playing eleven for the opening Test match in Newlands, Cape Town, in which they included Rohit Sharma instead of vice-captain and Test specialist Ajinkya Rahane.

Ajinkya Rahane’s statistics abroad speaks volumes about him and his exclusion on bouncy pitches, therefore, was bound to invite the ire of fans and critics alike.

Now Rahane’s coach Praveen Amre, too, has joined the discussion and slammed the coach and the captain for the same. Amre, while talking to News 18, slammed Kohli and Shastri for not backing the vice captain.

“I think this is the time when Rahane needed Kohli and Shastri’s backing because he had just one bad series against Sri Lanka and that too on Indian soil. When he was dropped from the ODI team after winning the Man of the Series award in the West Indies, there was no problem because he was filling in for the first team players,” Praveen Amre was quoted as saying by News 18.

“He was expected to make way once they returned to the team. But to drop the vice-captain of the Test team in the first Test of what is deemed as the start of the real test for Team India over the next 18 months was anything but shocking,” he added.

While talking about the inclusion of Rohit, Amre said, “You can’t replace Test specialist by someone who had done good in One Day Internationals, that too on home soil. If that was the case, there wouldn’t be a term called specialists. I am one of Rahane’s biggest critics when he doesn’t do well. I am the mirror who needs to give him the real picture. But then, in this case, I will stand by him and say that he had trained really hard for this series.”

There are reports that Indian opener Shikhar Dhawan can be replaced by KL Rahul in the second Test starting from January 13.

 “Hopefully, he will get to show his talent at some point in the series. I have played in South Africa myself and I can tell you that it is a different ball game when there is pace, swing and movement at the same time. I felt it was the perfect condition for Rahane to hold fort,” Rahane’s coach continued.

“This man has been scoring over the years on foreign soil and when one poor series sees him getting dropped, then it comes as a surprise because even against Australia in tough conditions, he not only did well, but also led the team well in Kohli’s absence,” Amre concluded.