Ajinkya Rahane's timely knock – a sign of things to come?
Ajinkya Rahane has 9 test hundreds to his name. In 2017 and 2018, he has had only 1. He is now ranked outside top 15 (19th) in ICC rankings of Test batsmen; a list Virat Kohli leads by a margin.
These 2 years had also resulted in him not being a regular ODI squad member anymore. The things weren't turning up, as they had looked to back in 2016 when a knock of 188 in Indore had looked a platform for much bigger things.
India's vice-captain was in limelight for his dry run with the bat before the tour down under began. After the first innings dismissal at Adelaide, a few more eyebrows had been raised.
In the second innings when he arrived at the crease with India 2 down, things changed. Rahane started slowly, taking 33 balls for his first 5 runs.
And then the exhibition began. In his innings of 70 runs comprising of 7 fours, he played a cracking cut shot, a glorious straight drive, a powerful cover drive off Starc, a dismissive upper drive off Cummins and a pull shot off Lyon that stamped his authority in front of the Adelaide Oval crowd.
Together with Pujara, he had put India in an advantageous position, which got evened out by the late collapse of batting line-up. With the game poised for a fifth day finish, Rahane can afford to sleep peacefully with a big relief of getting a good knock under his belt.
It might seem irrelevant at the moment, but with India overly dependant on Kohli and Pujara, Rahane's time at the crease would ease a few nerves in the Indian dressing room. If this translates into a purple patch for the vice-captain, who knows there might be a late entry back into the WC squad for the graceful Mumbai batsman.