‘We were confident about playing good cricket, we were not worried about the result’ – Ajinkya Rahane relives historic Gabba win
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India’s tour Down Under turned out to be a historic affair yet again as the tourists breached Australia’s fortress to secure back to back Test series wins. The Gabba fortress was breached after 32 long years as India clinched a thrilling encounter. Reliving the memorable win, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane shares that the tourists decided to take on a session at a time on the eventful final day.
Rahane adds that India backed themselves to play their natural game without being bothered by the scorecard or the outcome.
“On the first hour of the final day, we were thinking of playing normal cricket, not thinking about the total we had to chase; just play one session at a time and then assess again. We got a good partnership between Cheteshwar Pujara and Shubman Gill. When Shubman got out and I walked in, I thought I should carry on that momentum and play freely and if I can get 30-40 quick runs here, then we have a game on our hands, and (then) see what happens,” Rahane told Hindustan Times.
“I told Cheteshwar to continue to play his normal cricket, but I will look for runs. If I can carry on, if we have to chase 150-160 in the last session in 38 overs, it is quite chaseable. That’s what happened. That partnership between Pujara and Shubman set up the game. Then Pujara and Rishabh’s partnership and then Rishabh and Washington’s partnership.“
“Initially, we were only looking to play one session at a time, but in the last session the message was clear (to go for the target), but play normal game, play normal cricketing shots,” he adds.
Be strong, be together as a team and play as a team
Rahane, who is yet to lose a Test match as captain, feels that the team’s simple but resilient mindset helped them to bounce back into the series. The Mumbai batter explains that the focus was on playing the best cricket for five days. And let their performance dictate the result.
“We were confident about playing good cricket. We were not worried about the result, we were not thinking about the outcome. That’s what we did. That’s how we came back into the series at Melbourne. Our thought was all about playing good cricket, showing good attitude, showing that character on the field. That helped us a lot. That’s what we decided: let’s play five days of good cricket and then whatever the result is we will accept it. Be strong, be together as a team and play as a team,” Rahane shares.
He played great cricket although being under pressure
The final two Test matches witnessed a show of unparalleled courage and steely resistance. Young gun Rishabh Pant played a big part in both the games after being promoted up the order. Rahane shares that the aim was to get a left-right combination in the middle. And hailed Pant for the way he batted to draw the third Test and take India over the line in the fourth.
“We decided as a team management that if we move him up, we can get the left-right combination going. Australia would have to change their line and length. We wanted to move the game forward. That’s how we took that decision. Again, credit to him, no credit to us, that he played that knock, and got the runs. In Brisbane too, he played a fantastic knock, a match winning knock. He was under pressure, but the kind of cricket he played, the way he batted, was great,” Rahane concludes.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
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