Batting Simplified

Playing an aggressive brand of cricket is the new mantra for Team India under Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane is an important cog in the captain’s intent of dominating the opposition

- Chetan Narula

AFTER THE CLOSE of the first day’s play in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, Ajinkya Rahane walked into the press conference a relieved man. His relief was easy to understand. He had scored his first Test century in just over 10 months—the last one was in October 2016 against New Zealand in Indore. Since then, he had played in nine Tests with a highest score of 82 in February this year against Bangladesh in Hyderabad. Simply put, this was the longest he had gone without raising his bat in exultation in his Test cricket career.

“It was an important hundred. Even though I didn’t get a hundred in nine Tests, I knew that when I got the next one it would be a big one,” said Rahane, shrugging off any hint of self-doubt after scoring a classy 132 in the first innings at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Rahane’s words might be reassuring, but it’s important to reflect on the temporary loss of form that the Mumbai batsman experienced for the first time in his Test career. When he notched up his highest Test score of 188 against New Zealand last autumn, Rahane touched the zenith of his career until that point.

It reflected in his figures. Barring his maiden Test in Delhi in 2013, he has excelled everywhere, in varied conditions, both at home and overseas and against all opposition. You couldn’t put a finger on any one particular failure, because there were none. From Durban to Wellington, from Lord’s to Melbourne, from Fatulla to the Caribbean, he had scored runs everywhere. At the end of that cycle, Rahane managed to lay the ghost of his horrendous debut to rest with two centuries against South Africa in 2015 in Delhi. At that point, he had already scored 1,619 (22 Tests) of his 2,809 career runs (40 Tests) so far. But it wasn’t an easy ride.