Ajinkya Rahane left the field after scoring 112 in India's first innings. (Screengrab) Ajinkya Rahane has shone brightly because of his leadership skills in the ongoing Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground against Australia.
On the third day of action in the second Test of the four-match series, India’s stand-in skipper came up with a brilliant gesture for his batting partner Ravindra Jadeja before walking towards the pavilion after getting run-out.
Resuming the day on 104, Rahane started well but an untimely run-out cut his innings short.
A magic piece of fielding from Marnus Labuschagne! #AUSvIND https://t.co/vwVXz5OjKq
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 28, 2020
In the 100th over of India’s first innings, Jadeja played one towards off-side against Nathan Lyon and ran for a quick single. Rahane responded to the call but ultimately fell victim to the combination of Marnus Labuschagne and wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
As the 32-year-old batsman prepared to leave the field, he went over to Jadeja and told him to carry on and get a big score for the team.
Nice gesture from Rahane, he was encouraging Jadeja after the mistake which lead to the wicket through runout of the captain. pic.twitter.com/m9Fv0SP5QT
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 28, 2020
After his valiant knock came to an end on 112 after 223 balls, Sunil Gavaskar said that Rahane’s gritty century will go down as one of the most important innings in India’s cricket history.
“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,” Gavaskar told Seven Network on Monday.
Ajinkya Rahane since the start of 2019 in Test matches for India:
– Most runs (887).
– Joint most centuries (3).
– Most fifty plus scores (8).
– Most balls faced (1887).
– 2nd best average (55.43).
– 2nd most fours (102). pic.twitter.com/pb6c2Dtv1U— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 28, 2020
With his 12th Test hundred, Rahane became the fifth Indian captain to score a Test century in Australia, after Mohammad Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Virat Kohli.
India’s innings came to an end soon after as they were restricted to 326-all out by Australia. The hosts started their second innings trailing by 131 runs.