Published: Jun 13, 2015, 09:26 AM (IST)
Edited: Jun 13, 2015, 09:26 AM (IST)
Ajinkya Rahane played a vital innings on Day Three of the one-off Test between India and Bangladesh. He scored 98 from 103 deliveries and his 114-run partnership with Murali Vijay for the fourth wicket came in at a time when India had lost three wickets on a trot. Even though Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan will hog the headlines for their excellent innings, Rahane too deserves due credit for his selfless innings, says Pramod Ananth.
India slipped from 283 for no loss to 310 for three in a span of six overs. Another wicket at that stage, and Indian dressing room would have become even more nervous. Shikhar Dhawan scored 173, which brought an outstanding partnership of 283 for the opening wicket to an end. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were then dismissed cheaply after that. Test cricket points system needs ICC’s revision
Ajinkya Rahane then walked in, in his calm and composed fashion. Rahane has time and again proved that he can defend when he has to and also attack when the situation arises. Initially, he was a touch circumspect as his side had lost three wickets on a trot. Spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Jubair Hossain, who was getting some encouraging turn, had created doubts in the minds of the batsmen by then. Murali Vijay rapidly turning into India’s most dependable batsman
Rahane, however, did not take time to settle in. He scored his first boundary off Shakib through point on the front foot and a couple of deliveries later, punched a ball outside off to cover once again. Rahane made his intentions clear, he was not going to miss out on scoring opportunities off loose deliveries. Vijay, at the other end, was keeping things steady as he was approaching his third 150 in Tests.
Rahane did not let the spinners bully him. He cut, pulled and drove with authority. Both Rahane and Vijay were reading Hossain’s googlies properly — something that Kohli failed to pick. Rahane got to his fifty off just 64 deliveries. He was all set to cut loose from there on, but rain played spoilsport — like it has done throughout the match — and the players were forced to take an early lunch. India were breathing sigh of relief. Not only India not lost any further wickets but also scored runs at a brisk pace. In a way, they did not let the momentum slip despite those early blows.
After a long agonising wait, play finally resumed. Rahane, as expected looked aggressive and did not let the bowlers to settle. He took special liking to Shakib and smashed him around. Even Hossain was not spared. He made sure he watched the ball right till the end played every ball to its merit. It is a flat track at Fatullah, so, there are plenty of runs to be scored once a batsman has got his eye in.
Vijay at the other end had scored 150 and was dismissed soon after that. Wriddhiman Saha too did not stay at the crease for long. But Rahane was determined to keep the momentum and hence did not change his approach. He was nearing his fourth Test ton.
With an entire day of the Test match lost, Rahane was in a hurry to get as many runs on the board as possible before the rain interferes once again. Rahane took a quiet single off Hossain to move into the nineties. He retained strike for the next over as Saha was dismissed off the last ball.
It was the 102nd over of the match and with just moments before tea on Day Three, Shakib was called on to bowl. Rahane punched the first ball off the back foot straight to cover. No run. Bangladesh had set a reasonably defensive field to Rahane at that stage. Rahane slog-swept the next ball to wide long on and collected a boundary. Rahane was on 94 now. He has been through the disappointment of doing all the hard work and failing on the brink of success, and he would not have wanted a repeat.
A fearless Shakib tossed the ball up on middle and leg, Rahane swept once again, this time a little more conventional and collected his second boundary in as many balls, in the square leg region. This was it. Rahane was just two runs away from another century. Any batsman would have been happy to hang around for a while, wait for the right delivery to get runs and had Rahane done that, nobody would have blamed him.
But Rahane did not finch; he wanted to continue like the way he batted through the innings. He put the team ahead of his personal milestone and tried a pull a short delivery off Shakib but missed it all together, and was clean bowled. Rahane did not express any disappointment as he made his way off the field. He knew he had done his job. His 103-ball knock, however reignited India’s chances of getting a huge score. As things stand, they seem to have enough runs on the board to win the match, if weather permits.
No doubt, the kind of innings Dhawan and Vijay played early on gave license to Rahane to bat with such freedom. But, his innings was eventually the one that kept India’s momentum going even though they were pegged back.
Rahane deserves as much credit as Dhawan and Vijay for his marvellous innings, if not more.
(Pramod Ananth is a reporter at CricketCountry. He has represented Karnataka table tennis under-15, and is a hardcore supporter of Liverpool FC. His Twitter handle is @pramz)
