Ajinkya Rahane - Anchor of a sinking ship
It is a sheer delight to watch Ajinkya Rahane bat.
And when he bats the way he did at Ferozshah Kotla Stadium in Delhi against South Africa, eyes gaze at the diminutive batsmen’s austere mightiness and admirable forbearance.
It was not a brutal assault characterised in the batting of a Kohli or a Sharma, it was a gradual prickling of an insidious South African force going all guns blazing against the batsmen. The more he stayed, the more painful his prickles became.
At one point, when the hosts were lurking at the danger of another batting collapse, he weaved an influential partnership of 98 runs with R. Ashwin to take India’s score to 334.
Reaching his maiden hundred on Indian soil with his prototype straight drive, which has been the hallmark of his batting, his innings was a marriage of abandon and stroke play, a display of nonchalance and resistance. He tailor-made the innings, stitching every part of the fabric with his own craftiness.
Watching him bat is like immersing in the vast and appeasing Mumbai Sea with gentle breeze cuddling the face and recurring whirls depicting the ferocity. It is like relishing the oldies’ in the era of distorted raps. He is a driver who would stop at every red signal in the traffic but once he is on the highways, he would shift to his main gears to increase the momentum.
Brutal Beginnings
Two years’ ago, when he honed the Test cap for the first time on the same ground, he had heaps of runs in the domestic backyard and the moment was ripe enough to capitalise since selectors’ were hunting for replacements of inevitable departure of “fab five”.
He looked a bundle of nerves, his shot selection was bluntly poor and his external acts signalled the internal chaos. His scores read 7 and 1 in his first two innings.
It was much more than a missed opportunity for Rahane and more importantly, his confidence submerged deeply and he was shattered. He was criticised by former cricketers, the inherent temperament had not been justified and the missed opportunity could have been a stamp on his career.
He would have gone back and would have stacked up another pile of runs but the debacle would have left a dent in his career.
An ailing batsmen’s most preferred doctor, a surgeon of batsmen’s technique and a recognised cricketer in stature, Pravin Amre, dialed him for the help.
Having known him from Under-17 days, Amre had the belief in his abilities and worked meticulously on Rahane’s game. Though in the middle of the season, with tours to South Africa and New Zealand on the fringes, Amre suggested Rahane to change his back lift.
The metamorphosis in the middle of the season needs a lot of effrontery since repairs are mainly done in off-seasons. But having someone like Amre alongside him, who had extreme faith in Rahane’s game, he reciprocated his faith by adapting to the suggestions’ as quickly as possible.
Amre arranged a personal session with Sachin Tendulkar to boost the spirits of this young man who was the prodigal son of Mumbai cricket.
Often being termed as ‘unfit’ material to play for India, Rahane’s grit and determination to ink his name was visible when last year he said something which alluded that he had overcome the debacle. He said:
“My time will come and I don’t want any sympathies. I am still young and age is on my side. My Test debut might have come late but I know I am in the race. I will fight it out. I will keep working hard.”