Ajinkya Rahane
On Saturday afternoon at the Adelaide Oval, much to their sheer misfortune, India found themselves torn and ripped apart by a perfect storm. The visitors succumbed to 36 for 9, their lowest ever Test total in cricket history, and eventually lost the opener by eight wickets on the same evening. Batting techniques were looked into, their intent was questioned and predictions of a possible whitewash were made following what Australian media termed it as the "Summer of 36". In the wake of the Adelaide "disappointment" and "humiliation", Indian captain Virat Kohli left for home on paternal leave and then much to their dismay, India further lost Mohammed Shami for the entire series after incurring an injury on his forearm which is reported to be a fracture, leaving India with an even more daunting task to overcome. And at the helm stands Ajinkya Rahane, who has quietly assumed the role for the remainder of the Border-Gavaskar contest.
Having made his debut in 2013, Rahane has long emerged as a pivotal figure in India's Test lineup and is presently one of the senior players in the setup. He did take time to settle in and cement his position in the team, but since becoming a mainstay batsman in the Test line-up, Rahane was also added to the leadership group, lending support to Kohli in the longest format. He was officially named the Test vice-captain for India in 2016 and only a year later he had his first opportunity in leading the Indian side, in the fourth Test against Australia in Dharamsala after Kohli had incurred a shoulder injury. Rahane impressively led the side to a victory with India subsequently winning the Border-Gavaskar trophy with a 2-1 win margin.
Recalling that game ahead of this year's contest, former Australian skipper Ian Chappell was full of praise for Rahane's aggressive captaincy. “Well, I saw him captain in one Test against Australia (in Dharamsala) and found his captaincy to be fabulous. He was really an aggressive captain.”
In the home summer of 2018, Rahane got his second captaincy opportunity, leading India to a massive win in the historic one-off tie against Afghanistan in Bengaluru. After the game, Rahane called the entire visiting team to pose with the trophy along with the Indian team, a heartwarming sight rarely seen among captains in world cricket. He is calm, composed, restrains himself from verbal exchanges and on the field, he carries himself in a manner sheer opposite to the man he is supposed to replace in the upcoming matches.
Besides these, Rahane has led many domestic sides to title victory from a very young age, captained in IPL as well, and assumed the role in India's practice and unofficial Tour matches.
Leadership, from what it looks, doesn't seem to be much of a concern heading to the MCG Test for Rahane, but the 32-year-old will also be replacing Kohli the batsman, which will be an equally bigger task and the latter responsibility has been a major issue with him over the last few years.
In 66 Test appearances, only Cheteshwar Pujara and Ravichandran Ashwin have more appearances in the present squad, Rahane averages 42.45. Among all Indian batsmen who have played at least 66 Tests matches, only Dilip Vengsarkar (38.84) and MS Dhoni (37.98) had a lesser batting average than Rahane after their 66th Test. Ravi Shastri and Kapil Dev too find their spots below Rahane but they were all-rounders.
Average of Indian batsmen after 66th Test appearance
One of the major reason behind Rahane's growth in the Indian Test squad was his ability to perform better in away conditions than at home, antithesis to the general trend. In fact, of his first 18 Tests that Rahane played, only one was at home and 17 were on overseas soil, where he averaged 46.37 with four centuries which were scored in New Zealand, England, Australia, and Sri Lanka.
Rahane was expected to emulate his overseas performance at home as well, and after a couple of lean Tests he scored 127 and 100* in back-to-back innings against South Africa in New Delhi in 2015 and then notched up scores of 77 and 188 (still his highest Test score), in the home series against New Zealand in 2016. By the end of 2016, from what statistics had shown, Rahane had grown into a perfect batsman with both his home and away averages more than 51. But the perfection didn't last long. In the eight home Tests that he played in 2017, Rahane scored only 325 runs at an average of 25, half of what his home average was in the period before, with just two fifties. Among all Indian batsmen that year who scored at least 200 runs, Rahane's average was the least.
After 66 Tests, Ajinkya Rahane averages 42.45
Rahane's spot in the playing XI came under the radar, yet with India set for an overseas sojourn in 2018, the management entrusted him with the responsibility of emulating his earlier away performances. But his fall continued. Since 2018, Rahane has averaged 33.39 in 15 Tests on overseas soil with just one century which was scored against West Indies in North Sound in 2019. In SENA nations, his average during that period was 26.55 in 13 games, a significant drop from his earlier average of 48.59.
The management will be hoping that the added responsibility will help Rahane perform better as a batsman. Besides, it was at Melbourne where he scored his highest overseas knock, of 147 in 2014.
Kohli too feels that his absence would provide Rahane the perfect opportunity to "step up and perform strongly as an individual and as a captain as well".
"The focus remains till the time I'm here to provide captaincy leadership and perform to the best of my abilities. From then on I'm pretty confident Jinks will do a tremendous job. I've said this previously as well, I feel this is his time to really step up and perform strongly as an individual and as a captain as well, I'm sure he'll do a great job when I'm gone. We're on the same page completely and the vision simply remains to put in good performances and make sure we're competing every game and the idea is to win the series," Kohli had said ahead of the start of the series.
