IND vs AUS: Another Great Day For India & Top Class Knock From Ajinkya Rahane -Virat Kohli
India skipper Virat Kohli heaped praise on the stand-in-skipper Ajinkya Rahane for his gritty knock against Australia and said that Sunday was ‘another great day for India’.
India skipper Virat Kohli, who returned to India after playing first Day/Night Test in Adelaide for the birth of his first child on January has lauded stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane for his brilliant knock against the hosts and called it ‘another great day for India’.
Rahane, on day two of the Second Test against Australia, played a brilliant knock for his side and smashed his 12th Test hundred and 2nd against Australia. He helped India get out of a precarious situation of 64/3 and end Day 2 on a much respectable 277/5 with a lead of 82 runs. Rahane remained unbeaten on 104 off 200 deliveries.
“Another great day for us. Proper Test cricket at its best. An absolutely top knock from Jinks @ajinkyarahane88” tweeted Virat Kohli at the end of play on Sunday.
After being bundled up on 36 in the first Test in Adelaide, everyone was curious about how India will bounce back in the second Test. Most importantly, after Kohli’s departure for the birth of his first child, all eyes were on the stand-in-skipper Ajinkya Rahane.
Rahane meeting the expectations of fans and cricket fraternity led from the front and done his job efficiently.
Ajinkya Rahane, as expected promoted himself to number 4 in Virat Kohli’s absence and walked out in the middle after the departure of young Shubman Gill. But Cheteshwar Pujara departed even before Rahane could get into the groove of things. India had started walking out of the track before Rahane pulled his socks up and played a brilliant knock for the visitors.
A 52-run partnership with Hanuma Vihari to bring the innings back on track, then a 57 runs campaign with very positive looking Rishabh Pant and then an unbeaten 104 runs stand with Ravindra Jadeja to take India’s lead to 82 at the end of Day 2 — Ajinkya Rahane anchored each one of them.
It Was a Typical Test Match Century: Sunil Gavaskar
Rahane is being lauded by many after his fantastic 12th Test hundred. The former Indian captain and legend Sunil Gavaskar, took no time to hail the 32-year-old for his brilliant work on the field. He called Rahane’s century ‘a typical Test century’ and also stated that it has never been easy for batsmen to hit a century on this pitch.
“It was a typical Test match century and a typical captain’s innings, showing from the front how to play on a pitch which was never easy to bat on. This is a kind of a pitch where no batsman can say he is well set.
There is something or the other happening, there is a lit bit of carrying, the oddball has kept low, there has been the turn for Nathan Lyon. So, no batsman can tell to himself even if he is batting on 60-70 that he is well set and he can go on to get runs. Pujara fell after Ajinkya Rahane came to bat. Vihari and him were new,” Sunil Gavaskar told on Sony Networks post Day 2 stumps.
