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Ajinkya Rahane who was discarded from Team India's Test set-up one-and-a-half-year back as many cricket experts believed he probably ran out of steam. The same batter is now carrying the hopes of millions of Indian cricket fans in the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) between India and Australia at the Ovals.
Rahane launches fightback
With half of the side returned back to pavilion at 151/5 in reply to Australia's colossal 469, Ajinkya Rahane is still intact on the crease with an unbeaten 29 off 71 balls after top-order fiasco. But it will be an uphill task for the veteran batter to rescue India from a precarious position and evade a possible follow-on.
When the chips were down, Rahane paired with Ravindra Jadeja (48) and stitched a 71-run partnership to steer India from 71/4 to 141. But moments later Nathan Lyon trapped Jadeja to pile misery on India on Day 2 which saw 12 wickets falling as compared to just three on Day 1.
Rahane and Srikar Bharat are the only batter left in India's quiver who can salvage Rohit's brigade pride in front of Australia's lethal bowling attack.
Gavaskar lauds Rahane's different avatar
Meanwhile, India's batting great Sunil Gavaskar heaped immense praise on India's star batter and said that this is a different Rahane who is prepared to take on Australian bowlers.
“He has been in very good form in the IPL. We have seen a different Rahane. Somebody who is prepared to take the attack to the bowling. He used to do that earlier on as well. But you know after a while, when you are one of the main batters, the responsibility can be that you curb a few shots. But it’s almost like he has been reborn as a Test player. He last played a Test match in January 2022 against New Zealand if I’m correct. Then to come back now the way he has, he is looking good. He was a little bit of lucky with that no-ball being called. Every batter needs that little bit of luck. I’m hoping that he can carry on and take India to a total that is closer to Australia’s total,” Gavaskar told Star sports.
Barring Rahane and Jadeja, Indian batting fizzled out on the second day of the WTC final against Australia, trailing their opponents by 318 runs in the first innings. When India needed them the most, the likes of Rohit Sharma (15), Virat Kohli (14), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14) perished under pressure which has put the team on the brink of defeat. Ajinkya Rahane (29 off 71; not out) is the only experinced batter who is intact on the crease along with Srikar Bharat (5 off 14; not out) to keep India's hopes alive going into Day 3.
Notably, Rahane made a comeback to India's Test squad after January 2022 after putting up an exceptional show with the willow in the domestic circuit and the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2023.
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