SK Flashback: Ajinkya Rahane's twin tons against South Africa in 2015
Mumbai has always been a special place on the cricketing map. The iconic stronghold has produced some outstanding and world-class cricketers. Vijay Merchant, Vijay Manjrekar, Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar are among the most famous batsmen to emerge from Mumbai. From the current lot, Ajinkya Rahane is on his way to join those revered names.
Rahane first came into prominence when he became the 11th batsman in the history of Ranji Trophy to score more than 1000 runs in a season. His 1089 runs in the 2008/09 helped Mumbai clinch their 38th Ranji title. He continued the good work for the next few years and finally got a chance in the Indian team after strong performances in the Emerging Players tournament in Australia.
With regular openers ruled out with injuries, Rahane got a chance at the top of the order in England in 2011. On debut, he scored a very attractive 40 off 44 balls. In his debut series, he scored 158 runs in five games and impressed a lot of people with his technique and intent.
The Mumbaikar kept getting chances here and there but it was only in 2013 he made his Test debut at the Feroz Shah Kotla. But, he had a horror start to his Test career as he scored seven and one in that Test falling to poor strokes. However, after Sachin’s retirement, Rahane made the No. 5 spot his own as he was one of the most consistent batsmen in the Indian line-up when they toured overseas for the major part of two years (2013-2015).
Hece, when India returned to play a home series against South Africa in late 2015, Rahane had a chance to prove his worth in home conditions as well. India had already lost both the limited-overs series against the Proteas (lost the T20I series 2-0 and the ODI series 3-2). Rahane looked in decent touch as he scored 247 runs in 5 innings.
The first three Tests produced rank turners. Mohali and Nagpur were low-scoring games while the game in Bangalore was largely affected by rain (four days were washed out). Spinners had ruled the roast throughout the first three games and the highest total was just 215. And the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla in Delhi was the center of attraction before the Test started and it certainly looked like the best pitch of the series.
Rahane bails India out of trouble
India’s batting performances in the series were far from convincing and thus, the openers, Vijay and Dhawan began watchfully. But a similar suit as the earlier Tests followed as India were reduced to 66/3. This brought Rahane to the crease. He had only 39 runs in four innings prior to this one.
His arrival changed the tempo of the innings as along with skipper Kohli he put on 70 for the 4th wicket. But Kohli’s dismissal started a mini-collapse (something which was a regular feature in the series) and India lost three wickets for three runs which eventually turned into 198/7 after a 60-runs stand between Rahane and Jadeja.
India looked in all sorts of trouble and were in danger of being bowled out under 250 again. Rahane was still batting on 62. He had bailed India out of such troublesome situations away from home quite a few times. Hence, he was the key. But even he was not in great touch.
Also Read: The Rahane conundrum - Why India must retain faith in Ajinkya for South Africa Tests
But Rahane batted positively and held the innings together beautifully. In company of Ashwin (who scored 54), he stabilized the innings and then cashed in once he was set to help India post the best score of the series. In the process of helping the hosts post a decent first innings score, Rahane scored his first Test hundred at home (and fifth overall).
This century was also the first ton of the series and was by far the best knock played by any player throughout the series. His 127 was instrumental in India posting a total of 334.
The way Rahane countered the likes of Morne Morkel, Abbott, Piedt and Tahir was wonderful to watch. And one of the things that stood out was his patience. He was very watchful and played out the good deliveries/spells with very well and scored freely when the bowlers were off their mark.
The second innings special
Ravindra Jadeja’s 5/30 ensured India bowled out South Africa cheaply (for 121) and gained a big lead of 213. They decided against enforcing the follow-on as there was a lot of time left in the game.
However, a similar top-order collapse saw India slip to 57/4. With skipper Kohli in company once again, Rahane bailed India out of trouble once again. Morne Morkel was on fire when he walked out to bat at No. 6. He played out the fiery spell and ensured that there was no further damage.
With Kohli doing the bulk of the scoring, Rahane took his time and played cautiously as he reached 52 off 152 balls by the end of the third day. However, on the fourth morning when India needed to score some quick runs with the declaration in sight, Rahane upped the ante and scored freely as he took the attack to the South African bowlers.
Extra Cover: Who is India's best batsman overseas in Tests?
He scored 48 runs off 54 deliveries on the fourth day to reach his second ton in the game. He became the 5th Indian to score twin centuries in Test cricket. As soon as Rahane reached the landmark, Kohli declared the innings setting the Proteas a target of 481.
South Africa put their head down and started a major blockathon. They seemed to be stonewalling everything that was thrown at them. But eventually, India won the game by a whopping margin of 337 runs
It was Rahane’s twin tons (127 and 100*) that set the platform for India to complete a famous 3-0 series victory. In a series where every other batsman struggled, he ended up as the leading run-scorer.