Twitterrati demand Ajinkya Rahane back as Test skipper after India gets hammered by England in 1st Test

India lost the first Test against England in Chennai on Tuesday by a margin of 227 runs. The loss is Virat Kohli’s back to back fourth loss as a Test captain. The loss has now given an advantage to the England team in the much-important series against India. This series was highly anticipated because it will decide the finalists of the ICC World Test Championship 2019-21 final. 

The loss against England also comes as a shock to the Indian fans after the side won a historic series in Australia. Having lost the first Test during that series and with a depleted side, the Indian team scripted a win down under which will be remembered forever. Interestingly, Kohli’s track record has not been good as a captain in recent times. 

India lost two Tests in New Zealand, followed by the first Test in Australia in which Kohli’s captaincy. There were many people who believed that the premier batsman should be removed as captain and Rahane, who led India to a victory in Australia should be named the captain. Now, with this loss of 227 runs, the debate has come to life again. 

Twitterati calls for Ajinkya Rahane’s comeback as Test captain

Many people on Twitter have appealed that Kohli should be sacked as the Indian team captain. While he batted well for his 72 in the second innings, it was just not enough to help his side get a draw. The loss has also pushed India to the fourth position of the points table of ICC World Test Championship 2019-21. Here are some tweets slamming Kohli’s leadership: 

Virat Kohli such a Impactful player. Without him It took India 3 tests in Australia to go on top and create history but he joined and put us back to be a losing side in just one test. Incredible impact.

— EngiNerd. (@mainbhiengineer) February 9, 2021

Ajinkya Rahane beat Australia in Australia with net bowlers and T20 batsmen. Virat Kohli can't beat England in India with his top bowlers and batsmen. This is getting ridiculous. Kohli's Bangalore has finished last in IPL every time. Isn't that proof he's not captaincy material.

— Rakesh Thiyya (@ByRakeshSimha) February 7, 2021

#INDvsENG @ImRo45 @ajinkyarahane88 @imVkohli pic.twitter.com/BcvCtSLRKj

— Rahul Jâykãr (@RahulJykr1) February 9, 2021

Virat Kohli is trying to score as many runs as possible so that he can blame other players and the pitch. He will say taht he is the best captain. Lol. @bcci

smell the coffee and make Ajinkya Rahane the captain. Sack Kohli and Shastri. Personal milestones my foot.#INDvENG

— Nairobi (@Nairobi_tweets) February 9, 2021

@imVkohli tum dream 11 pe team banao let @ajinkyarahane88 lead the team 🙏🙏🙏

— TweeterKMKB (@tweeterkmkb) February 9, 2021

Gone With The Wind….. Team India at Chepauk.

Return of @imVkohli again means defeat. Bring back @ajinkyarahane88 as captain#INDvsENG_2021 #Chepauk

— Kannan (@kannandelhi) February 9, 2021

@imVkohli : Another embarrassing defeat under your captaincy, first NZ, then Australia and now in India, if u have even an iota of self respect, renounce captaincy.@BCCI : We need Virat the bat not Virat the captain.#INDvsENG_2021 #Disappointment

— Mohit (@Mohit1717) February 9, 2021

I just want the English team to clean sweep the series..dont want to see choker kohli as captain again..this test was very important with respect to the test championship finals but India under choker @imVkohli has a history of not doing well in such situations #INDvENG

— Vinayak Bharadwaj (@bharadw5) February 9, 2021

#ViratKohli#INDvsENG @BCCI@GautamGambhir

Who says Kohli is capable captain for tests, should see this image…

Reality… Better to wake up… pic.twitter.com/jF1agxMY1I

— Sachin Harolikar (@SHarolikar) February 9, 2021

Virat Kohli is the most unluckiest captain in the history of cricket

— Kiran (@lame_brain_) February 9, 2021

Virat Kohli has now lost his last four Tests as captain – the most he has lost in succession (Wellington, Christchurch, Adelaide & Chennai).

In the seven Tests prior to the current streak, he had won seven in a row, the longest such sequence for an Indian captain.#INDvENG

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) February 9, 2021

Bring back Rahane as captain.Else this will be a washout series.#INDvsENG #Rahane #ViratKohli

— Rohit D (@rohitd1999) February 9, 2021

England dominated the 1st Test in completely

England set a target of 420 runs for India to win the first Test. The hosts were at 39 for 1 when day five started. Shubman Gill got to fifty early in the morning with some positive and aggressive batting but fell in James Anderson’s first over of the day. Anderson soon dismissed Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant to help England stamp their authority on the match. 

After lunch, there were some hopes in the Indian camp with a partnership being built between Ravichandran Ashwin and skipper Kohli but India soon lost their track again. They were bowled out for 192 runs. Jack Leach ended with figures of 4 for 76 while Anderson had figures of 3 for 17.