Veteran India batter misses well-deserved ton during Irani Trophy, knocks on BCCI doors before Australia tour – WATCH
New Delhi: Out of contention for a long period from the Indian team, veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane made his presence felt in front of BCCI selectors with a gritty 97 against Rest of India in the ongoing Irani Trophy at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Wednesday. Coming in when Mumbai were reeling at 37/3, the skipper took charge in the middle alongside Shreyas Iyer, who scored a patient 57 off 84 balls.
It was the 102-run stand between Rahane and Iyer for the fourth wicket that bailed Mumbai out of trouble before the latter was dismissed by Yash Dayal. Incidentally, Dayal was a part of India’s squad for the Test series against Bangladesh. However, the left-handed pacer didn’t get a game before being released for Irani Trophy.
Following Iyer’s dismissal, Rahane had Sarfaraz Khan in company as the duo shared another century partnership to put Mumbai in driver’s seat and establish authority in the game. Although Rahane was dismissed by an unplayable bouncer from Dayal, it was not before the 36-year-old had put the team in a safe position. Rahane added 131 runs with Sarfaraz for the fifth wicket.
Ajinkya Rahane misses out on his 100!
He walks back for 97. A brilliant innings under pressure
A very good review from Ruturaj Gaikwad & Co. as Yash Dayal breaks the 131-run stand #IraniCup | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Follow the match https://t.co/Er0EHGOZKh pic.twitter.com/gKLlMvwmaz
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) October 2, 2024
At the time of writing this article, Mumbai have crossed the 300-run mark with Sarfaraz Khan nearing nineties. Despite youngsters dominating the Indian middle order in Tests in recent times, Rahane remains one of the most reliable batters that the country has ever produced. He was one of the pillars and led India to Border Gavaskar Trophy triumph in Australia in 2020-21 series.
With new head coach Gautam Gambhir in charge, performances walk the talk in the Indian team and Rahane’s timely hundred might be on the former India opener’s mind. Rahane has played 12 Tests in Australia and scored 884 runs including two hundreds. Following, India win over Bangladesh, Rohit Sharma’s men will host New Zealand for three Tests in October-November before flying out to Australia for a five-match Test series.