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Ajinkya Rahane
Aakash Chopra praised Ajinkya Rahane for scoring the ugly runs on Day 2 of the World Test Championship final. He grinned it out in the middle and made important runs.
The Indian team finished day 2 of the title match with 146 runs on board at the loss of three wickets. The first day’s play had washed out due to rain at Southampton. Virat Kohli (44*) and Ajinkya Rahane (29*) were making runs for India when the day 2 play was called off due to bad light.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra reviewed the second day’s play. He lauded Rahane for showing resistance despite a bad start. Rahane had seemed a bit stuck and his front foot movement was not proper. But he still managed to score the ugly runs which helped the team move forward. It matters when even small runs are added on board in a tight competition like the championship final.
Aakash Chopra also highlighted that Ajinkya Rahane’s discomfort was understandable. He had been away from competitive cricket for a while and he is a one format player. His last game was the home Test series against England. After that, he did not play the ODIs or the T20Is. Moreover, he did not play too many matches in IPL 2021.
When Ajinkya Rahane came to bat, the Kiwi bowlers were settling into their rhythm. Ajinkya Rahane took the crease after a long gap with some added responsibility. He is the vice-captain of the Test team with more than 1000 runs in the tournament. The opposition was bowling well and India was at 88/3. There was a lot of pressure on him.
Rahane’s unbeaten 29 came off 79 balls and included four boundaries
Although he was not completely at ease on the crease, he became less flustered as the match went on.
Aakash Chopra concluded that the partnership between Rahane and Kohli took India out of troubled waters. The Indian team is playing just five batsmen and doesn’t have Hanuma Vihari. So they needed to contribute a bit more to put a good target for New Zealand. If the fourth wicket had fallen at 104 runs and Pant came in to bat, then the game would look different. Thereby, Rahane has so far done a good job with the bat.