Ajinkya Rahane Birthday: Reliving the Indian vice captain’s sumptuous ton at Lord’s on his 33rd birthday

Ajinkya Rahane Birthday: Reliving the Indian vice captain’s sumptuous ton at Lord’s on his 33rd birthday

Ajinkya Rahane of India 1 3

India’s Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane is the personification of perseverance and hard work. Over the years, Rahane has diligently worked on his game to establish himself as one of the best middle-order batsmen in the longest format for India. Despite faltering numerous times in his career, the Mumbai batsman has always bounced back strongly.

Ajinkya Rahane broke into the national team as a destructive opener. While the 33-year-old got off to a great start, his patchy form and abundance of options saw him fade away from the limited-overs team. Despite the setbacks, Rahane continued to toil in domestic cricket as he rose through the ranks in the longest format to become the vice-captain of the Test team. And a vital clog in the team which has qualified for the World Test Championship (WTC) final.

Ajinkya Rahane’s brilliance at the Lord’s

Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane

In only his seventh Test match and second in England, Ajinkya Rahane played a brilliant knock of 103 to prove his grit and temperament in the format. In the second game of India’s England tour at the Lord’s, the visitors found themselves in a fin with three wickets down with just 86 runs on board. And that was when a young, energetic Rahane walked into the middle.

The Mumbai batsman got off to slow start as he struck his half century off 101 balls. Rahane played some well timed drives to reach to the landmark having struck seven boundaries enroute. While he held on to one end, wickets kept tumbling at the other. But Rahane was unfazed as he pressed the foot on the gas pedal.

Off the next 50-odd balls, he scored at a strike rate of 100 to bring up the second century of his Test career. Rahane took on the likes of James Anderson and Liam Plunkett, as he raced off to the three-figure mark off 151 balls. It was a spectacular innings filled with exquisite drives and confident pull shots as the English bowlers toiled away in vain to dismiss the youngster.

He fell to Anderson immediately after but he had done his job and helped India to a respectable total of 295. Thanks to gritty knock and Ishant Sharma‘s best-ever bowling figures, India went on to win the game by 95 runs.

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“Still feel that my hundred against England at Lord’s is my best,” Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane

Serving as the stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane played a gritty knock at the MCG as he led the side with example in the Boing Day Test. Rahane smashed a 223 ball 112 as India went on to build a healthy lead of 131.

The middle-order batsman saw off some lethal spells of fast bowling as he went about his innings. While many experts hailed the innings his best ever, Rahane differed. The stand-in captain feels that his ton at Lords tops the list of his special innings. The ton against England came in similar conditions and was the second century of Rahane’s Test career.

“It was really special. Getting a century always is. Still feel that my hundred against England at Lord’s is my best,” Rahane said after the match.

Ajinkya Rahane holds many records to his name too. He is only Indian to score a century in both innings of a test match while batting at number 5 or below. He is only the second Indian Test batsmen with 500+ runs in a country and average of over 100. India has never lost match when Rahane scored a ton.

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