Ajinkya Rahane – The man standing tall in the face of adversity
The hangover of 36 all out. Virat Kohli and Mohammed Shami, India’s two premier Test players unavailable for the rest of the series. Two forceful yet apprehensive debuts (Mohammad Siraj and Shubman Gill). And most importantly running his skipper out in the first innings which was the crux moment of India’s batting in the first innings during the Adelaide Test.
After reading and analyzing all the adversities and hardships, one might call Ajinkya Rahane’s stand-in captaincy case as an appalling ordeal. But the destined sufferings got reshaped when India registered their fourth or maybe perhaps the most memorable victory at the MCG to level the series 1-1.
The win has not only just evinced Ajinkya Rahane’s prowess in terms of captaincy but also has unravelled his spirit. Although the real architects were the Indian bowlers who have been completely wrecking Australia’s batting so far, but regardless of their heroics it was the skipper Rahane’s hundred which became the epitome of India’s triumph.
The cover drive on the up! A stunning shot from Ajinkya Rahane and a pretty good snapshot of India’s performance in the second Test.@hcltech | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Kx5g3GE5T2
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 29, 2020
His hundred (112) carried those typical Ajinkya Rahane’s previous overseas tons persona which kept the Indian innings in conjunction while facing the similar wizards who caused the shambles of 36 all out.
India’s Results when Ajinkya Rahane scores a Test Century
There have been some formidable along with some elusive occurrences whenever India’s no.5 has produced three-digit scores. Out of his tally of 12 Test centuries, India has managed to win 8 matches along with three draws.
Regardless of his dip in form and consistency since 2018, Rahane can still be called as Mr Dependable when it comes to playing overseas. At present, out of his eight overseas tons, there have been five instances when India has won a Test match and has drawn thrice.
Out of his 113 innings so far, Rahane has played 71 innings away from home which includes 15 fifties apart from his mentioned eight centuries. His away average gets close to 46 when compared with a home average of 39.29. Rahane also has amassed 2,891 runs away from his overall tally of 4,384 runs.
His resilience and heroism as a skipper and as a batting leader was well praised when the legendary Sunil Gavaskar opined that “I believe that this hundred is going to be one of the most important hundreds in the history of Indian cricket, important because it’s showing character, sending a message to the opposition that after being dismissed for 36 in the previous game, to come back in this manner, this Indian team is not going to just lie down and be walked all over. That is the message and that’s why I think this is going to be one of the most important hundreds in the history of Indian cricket.”
Picking up Rahane’s best overseas hundred in a winning cause will now be a hindering affair because his iconic hundred at Lord’s (103) back in 2014 where India won for the second time in 82 years has always been the defining innings of his career.
