Ajinkya Rahane certainly has shown why he is regarded as one of the best technically gifted batsman in the business as the stand-in skipper made the most of the opportunity of leading the team with a impactful century, which allowed India to reach close to 100-run lead over Australia in second Test in Melbourne on Sunday.
Rahane, who is leading the side in place of Virat Kohli, took 195 balls to score his 12th Test ton laced with 11 boundaries; making him the 10th Indian captain to score a centuy in Test cricket history.
He had two lifelines on the way to the century as he was dropped at 73 on second slip by Steve Smith of Mitchell Starch while earlier he edged one through a non-existent first slip for a boundary while batting at 61.
After India were down to 64/3 in the first session of the day, Rahane rebuilt Indian innings with multiple partnerships with the lower middle-order. He had a 52-run stand for the fourth-wicket with Hanuma Vihari before the latter was dismissed.
Rahane, who is the only second Indian captain to score a century at Melbourne behind Sachin Tendulkar in 1999, then added 57 runs along with wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant for the fifth-wicket stand and when the youngster caught behind by his Australian counterpart Tim Paine off Mitchell Starc for 29. At this point India were 173/5 and 22 runs behind Oz's first innings total.
Rahane then had an unbeaten 100-run stand with Jadeja (36 not out at the point) to reach his 100 with a 73-run lead to India's name; allowing visitors to have an upper hand in the Test after trailing the series 1-0 last week.
