Reliving Ajinkya Rahane's T20I debut against England
England whitewashed India 4-0 in the Test series in 2011. The only T20I saw a young clean-shaven Ajinkya Rahane walk out to bat with Parthiv Patel on a breezy August day in Manchester.
At 39 for 1, in walked Rahul Dravid for his only T20I innings. All eyes were on the veteran as he played a quickfire 31 off 21 with three sixes launched off his blade. The fireworks show ended when he holed out a Ravi Bopara delivery straight to Eoin Morgan at cover.
All the while, Rahane was content playing second fiddle. It was a monk and disciple moment when Dravid walked away to cheers and roars, while Rahane had already begun his metamorphosis becoming the next potential wall.
Calling him that wasn't a stretch by any means. His 61off 39 was a blend of flamboyance, power, timing and had class written all over it.
Ajinkya Rahane's 61: Lone bright spot after a batting meltdown
Barring Dravid (31) and Suresh Raina's 19-ball-33, Ajinkya Rahane's 61 was the lone saving grace in an otherwise batting letdown. Jade Dernbach rattled the batting order and ended with figures of 4/22.
Rahane's knock was studded with eight fours as he blissfully went about pacing his innings. England won the match by six wickets, but Rahane made his mark with an innings that justified his selection to the shortest format.
Despite a sparkling start to his T20I career, Ajinkya Rahane eventually fell out of contention following a lean run in the format, despite having a healthy IPL run. The Mumbai batsmen has played 20 T20Is, scoring 375 runs at an average of 20.83 and strike-rate of 113.29.
Ajinkya Rahane has better numbers in his IPL career. He's played 151 matches and scored 3941 runs at an average of 31.52 and a strike rate of 121.33.
The focus will now be on the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand, followed by a stiff five-match Test series challenge against England.
Only time will tell if he can be an impact player for India in the upcoming slate of matches.