10 must know facts about Ajinkya Rahane, new captain of Team India

New Delhi: Ajinkya Rahane, who will lead Team India's short tour to Zimbabwe for three one day Internationals(ODIs) and two Twenty20 matches, has been a part of the Team for quite some time now . He is known among his fans as a cricketer who loves to answer his critics with his bat rather than with mouth. Cricket experts believe that Rahane is one of the few cricketers in the modern era of bang bang cricket who likes to play proper cricketing shots rather than opting for brute power hitting.Lets have a look at some of the most interesting and unknown facts about Ajinkya Rahane:1) Rahane who is known for his solid batting technique and his superb fielding skills has also got a black belt(in Karate) to his name. This quality of Rahane helps him to mask his never say die attitude even under tough situations.2) It was in 2002 that Ajinkya Rahane was selected to represent India at Under-15 level. Interestingly his list of teammates includes Piyush Chawla and Tanmay Srivastava.They all played against Sri Lanka under-15 who had Angelo Mathews in thier squad who has now become a key player of the Sri Lanka international team. Rahane was a part of Under-19 team that toured New Zealand. That team also comprised of current Team India's ODI captain Virat Kohli,Ravindra Jadeja and pacer Ishant Sharma.3) Ajinkya Rahane , made his first class debut playing for Mumbai, against Karachi Urban team in 2007. He represented Mumbai for the Mohammed Nissar Trophy which was played between domestic champions of India and Pakistan.Rahane who opened the batting for Mumbai scored a brilliant 143 to help his team lay a strong foundation4) Ajinkya Rahane was a part of the Mumbai Indians(MI) in the first few seasons of the Indian Premiere League(IPL) . However Rahane found it difficult to play regularly for the MI side which was full of star studded cricketers. Later he was brought by Rajhasthan Royals in the players auction where he become the second higest run getter for his side in the eight edition of IPL.5)Ajinkya Rahane made his debut in the shortest form of the game in the T20 match during the 2011 India'Tour to England. He alongwith the 'wall' of Indian Cricket Rahul Dravid who also made his T20 debut in the same match announced his arrival in the big stage.Rahane scored quickfire 61 runs runs in 39 balls.6) He is the first batsman to hit six fours in an over in a T20 match. Rahane hit six fours against Sreenath Arvind of Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2012. It was the first instance that such an incredible feat was created in the history of T20 cricket.7) Ajinkya Rahane along with other opener Shikhar Dhawan are the two Indian batsmen currently in the Indian team who wear elbow gaurd .It is a perfect sign of a perfect blend of class with tradition.8) It is said about young Rahane that when he was just eight years and was playing at Dombivili in Mumbai, a bowler who was thrice his age bowled him a bouncer which crashed at his helmet. The little Rahane started crying ,but a little while later he got up and smashed the very same bowler for five boundaries in his next five balls. This incident goes on to show his dedication and love for the game of cricket. 9) Ajinkya Rahane made IPL 8 his own amongst a group of hard hitting batsmen like Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, and AB de villiers. However it was Ajinkya Rahane, who got the lime light despite his inability to play big shots like Gayle,nor can he ramp the ball and show aggression like Kohli, but with his killer instincts and class on the cricket field,Rahane was scoring like a run machine for his franchise Rajhastan Royals.10) Due to his some strong performance during the last one year, Rahane has been the most succesful player for Team India and it was due to his hard work and his love for the game that he was awarded the CEAT Indian Cricketer of the Year Award.