Ajinkya Rahane looked his fluent self while scoring a stroke-filled 81 at Trent Bridge.
Ajinkya Rahane had been struggling for form in the ongoing Test series against England. The pressure kept on piling on the right-hander after failures in the four innings of the first two Tests. But the Mumbai batsman compensated for it all during his innings of 81 today in Nottingham.
En route his 81, he also achieved the milestone of 3000 Test runs. Not only this he combined with his captain Virat Kohli for a 159 run partnership for the fourth wicket. This helped India in recovering from a precarious 82/3 before lunch to post a formidable score on Day 1 of the third Test.
The two joined forces after the lunch break and made batting look really easy. They got their eye in and then started milking the bowlers. Both got to their half-century and stitched a 159-run stand putting India on the front foot. However, just when India had hoped for them to continue the good work and convert this into a massive partnership, Rahane was dismissed by Stuart Broad.
Rahane lunged forward to play the length ball outside his off stump. The ball took the outside edge and went past Jonny Bairstow in a hurry. Alastair Cook, at first slip, saw it late perhaps or he wanted his keeper to go for it. He still stuck his left hand out and the ball just stuck to his fingers.
