Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane in June 2016
Personal information
Full name Ajinkya Rahane
Born (1988-06-06) 6 June 1988
Ashwi KD , India
Nickname Ajju, Jinx
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Batting style Right-handed
Bowling style Right-arm medium
Role Batsman
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 278) 22 March 2013 v Australia
Last Test 29 November 2016 v England
ODI debut (cap 191) 3 September 2011 v England
Last ODI 29 October 2016 v New Zealand
ODI shirt no. 27 ( was 17 )
T20I debut (cap 39) 31 August 2011 v England
Last T20I 28 August 2016 v West Indies
T20I shirt no. 27 (was 17 )
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2007–present Mumbai
2008–2010 Mumbai Indians
2011–2015 Rajasthan Royals (#3)
2016–present Rising Pune Supergiants (#3)
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA
Matches 32 72 96 138
Runs scored 2272 2236 8,089 4,731
Batting average 47.33 32.88 56.56 36.67
100s/50s 8/9 2/16 28/33 7/31
Top score 188 111 265* 187
Balls bowled 108 42
Wickets 0 3
Bowling average 14.33
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match n/a
Best bowling 2/36
Catches/stumpings 37/– 42/– 92/– 69/–
Source: Cricinfo, 28 November 2016

Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane (born 6 June 1988) is an international cricketer who represents India and is the vice captain in the Test format of the game. He is a right-handed batsman who made his international debut in a Twenty20 International against England at Manchester in August 2011 and made his Test debut against Australia in March 2013.[1][2]

Rahane made his first-class debut in 2007–08 season and averaged an impressive 62.04 after 100 innings. Rahane scored over 1000 runs three times in his first five seasons. With batsman Shikhar Dhawan injuring his fingers, Rahane made his Test debut in the 2013 Border–Gavaskar Trophy. Rahane's first Test century came at Basin Reserve, Wellington against New Zealand.[3]

In May 2016, the BCCI recommended him for the Arjuna award.[4]

Early life

Rahane was born on 6 June 1988 in Ashwi KD, Ahmednagar district to Madhukar Baburao Rahane and Sujata Rahane in a Maratha family. The family hails from the village of Chandanapuri, Tal-Sangamner.[5] He has a younger brother and sister, Shashank and Apurva.[6] When Rahane was seven, his father took him to a small coaching camp with a matting wicket in Dombivli,[5][7] as they could not afford proper coaching.[5] Since he was 17, Rahane took coaching from former India batsman Pravin Amre.[8]

Rahane cleared his Secondary School Certificate from SV Joshi High School, Dombivli.

Rahane is married to Radhika Dhopavkar. Their marriage was a love marriage and took place in Mumbai on 26 September 2014.[9]

Domestic career

Rahane had performed well when India U-19 toured New Zealand in early 2007 with two hundreds. The tour boasted future international stars such as Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Ishant Sharma, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Ravindra Jadeja. The scores in New Zealand impressed the selectors and they picked him for the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in Pakistan. He had no first-class experience prior to this match in Karachi.[10]

First-class career

Rahane made his first-class debut, at the age of 19, for Mumbai against Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy in September 2007, at Karachi, when most of the first-choice Mumbai players were unavailable for various reasons. Opening the innings with Sahil Kukreja, he scored a century on debut 143 (207). They notched up an opening partnership of 247, as Kukreja scored 110.[11] Rahane was subsequently picked for the Irani Trophy match against Rest of India.[10]

He made his Ranji Trophy debut for his first-class side Mumbai in the 2007/2008 season. His wonderful Ranji season followed an impressive showing for West Zone in the 2007–08 Duleep Trophy, where he scored 172 against an England Lions attack comprising Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Steve Kirby and Liam Plunkett.

Rahane, with 1089 runs in his second Ranji season (2008–09), was a crucial factor in Mumbai's 38th title win. He continued to impress in domestic cricket, scoring three hundreds each in the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons of the Ranji Trophy.[12] His first-class top score of 265 not-out (batting at no. 3 for Mumbai) came against Hyderabad at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Uppal in 2009-10 season.[13] As Rahane scored over 1000 runs thrice in his five seasons, a Test call-up became inevitable. In the 2011 Irani Trophy match against Rajasthan, Rahane scored 152 and that innings helped him get selected in India’s Test squad.[10]

List A career

Rahane made his List A debut for Mumbai against Delhi in the Ranji One-day Trophy in March 2007, at Delhi.[14] Scoring 61 runs on debut he was instrumental in 171 runs match winning opening partnership with former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer. Two centuries in the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia brought him a place in the India ODI squad for the tour of England in 2011.[15]

Rahane progressed through the Mumbai ranks and has also been a part of the Indian U-19 team and the India A. Ajinkya Rahane has also turned out for India Blue and India Green in the NKP Salve Challenger Trophy.

International career

Test career

Rahane was named in the Test squad to play the West Indies in November 2011. Rahane was carried in the squad for 16 months and in his presence, he saw seven players make their debuts.[16] His performance in the limited-overs cricket (ODI and T20I) during that period was also not encouraging, as he averaged around 25 in both ODI and T20 cricket, and struggled for form in the series against Pakistan and England (January 2013).[17]

Rahane finally made his debut in Test cricket on 22 March 2013 against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi. According to the media, Rahane got this chance through "sheer luck". Shikhar Dhawan, who made a dazzling start to his career in the third Test at Mohali scoring 187 on debut, was the obvious choice for the Delhi Test until he suffered an injury to his knuckles on his left hand. Gautam Gambhir, who was picked as a replacement for Dhawan, was sidelined owing to jaundice. Rahane was handed his India Test cap by senior bowler Harbhajan Singh. It also brought an end to a lean patch for the 40-time Ranji Trophy champions Mumbai, who did not produce even a single Test player for India in since May 2007.[16] But two single-digit scores in the game prompted many to question his ability to handle pressure and replicate his domestic success at the international level.[18]

Despite his failure in the debut match, Rahane was included in the playing eleven for the first match of India tour of South Africa (2013–14). Batting in the lower-middle order, he made 209 runs at an average of 69.66 in the series (including a 96 of 157 balls at Kingsmead, Durban) against the bowling attack comprising Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. "For a man who had spent many a tour and series warming up the bench, carrying drinks, wondering when his opportunity will come, he has taken his chance with both hands, even though it arrived in the most difficult of conditions to bat in", cricket pundit Sidharth Monga wrote from Durban after the series. Rahane finished as India's third-highest run-getter in the series, but he was in the most precarious position of all before the series began.[19]

Rahane made his first Test ton at Basin Reserve, Wellington, New Zealand on 15 February 2014 against New Zealand.[20] India was in a difficult position when Rahane came to the crease at 156 for five and by the time he departed with 118 India were in a match-winning position ruined by Brendon McCullum’s famous triple century[21] "He had a mountain of first-class runs backing him, of course, but did he have what goes around by the queer name of X-factor? Did he have that extra edge in his game and personality that separates top-class international players from the rest? Was he merely humble, or was he unable to assert himself, unable to absorb real pressure? After his first two Test tours to South Africa and New Zealand, we can safely conclude it must be the former. Underneath that seemingly soft exterior lurks a solid Test batsman, and he was on display at the Basin Reserve", ESPN Cricinfo wrote in their analysis.[22]

Rahane played in the Investec Test Series (India tour of England, 2014) in England. His previous overseas performances (in away Tests, Rahane averaged 61.83 having scored 371 in four Tests including a century and two fifties) earned him a place in the playing eleven over Rohit Sharma.[20] He justified his selection by making his second hundred at the second Test match at Lord's Cricket Ground. Put in to bat on a green-top wicket by Alastair Cook, India collapsed to 140 for six by tea, only to be rescued by Rahane's century. He was supported by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who scored a valuable 36, besides putting on 90 runs for the eighth wicket.[23] In the process, Rahane became the fourth Indian batsman to post a Test century on his first appearance at Lord’s, joining Sourav Ganguly, Dilip Vengsarkar and Ajit Agarkar[24][25]

Rahane played in the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. In the 3rd Test match at Melbourne, Rahane made his third Test hundred. He made 399 runs in four Test including 1 century and 3 half-centuries against the opposition attack consisted of Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris, the core of a bowling unit that famously won 2013-14 Ashes series by 5-0.

In the first Test of 2015 tour of Sri Lanka, Rahane broke the world record for most catches in a Test match with eight.[26] In the second Test at PSS, Colombo, he scored his fourth Test hundred, scoring 126 in India's second winnings, and India went on to win the match. In the process, he reached his career-best ranking of 20th, at the ICC Player Rankings.[27]

Rahane played in the 2015 Freedom Series.In the 4th test match at New Delhi, Rahane made hundreds in both the innings on a pitch where most batsman found it difficult to score on, with this feat he became only the fifth Indian to join the elite club of twin centurions in a single test.Late Vijay Hazare (once), Sunil Gavaskar (thrice), Rahul Dravid (twice) and Virat Kohli (once) are the other Indian batsmen to have achieved the coveted milestone.

On 16 August 2016, Rahane achieved his career best test batsmen's ranking of #8.

ODI career

Two centuries in the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia (2011) brought Rahane a place in the India limited-overs squad for the tour of England. He made his debut against England at Chester-le-Street as a replacement for opener Virender Sehwag. Although Rahane made 40 runs at strike-rate of 90.90, India's hopes of their first victory of the 2011 summer against England were thwarted by a washout at Chester-le-Street.[28]

He did well in his maiden international series (2011 NatWest Series), against England in England, and in the return series. He made a 47 ball 54 on his second match of the latter tour.[10] Rahane failed to impress in his next few limited over matches against West Indies, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England.

Rahane made his second ODI fifty in 2013/14 Asia Cup, only to be followed by another slump.[29][30] In a short ODI career in the middle order, Rahane has seemed unsure and struggled at times to find the balance between defence and attack. He showed signs of comfort at the top of the order with rapid centuries against England (September 2014) and Sri Lanka (November 2014), but Rohit Sharma's second ODI double-century followed by a big hundred against Australia at the MCG pushed Rahane back to the middle order. T20s[31] In the ICC Cricket World Cup followed, Rahane only managed to score 208 runs from 8 matches, with an average of 34.66.He was dropped by Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the second odi against Bangladesh but after the series, he was appointed as captain of India for its tour of Zimbabwe for ODIs and T20Is in 2015 when a second string squad was selected.[32] India won that ODI series 3-0, although rahane was not able to leave any big impacts with the bat, he made total of 112 in three matches with only one half century in it. [33]

Rahane had a relatively good home series against South Africa. Batting at number 4 he scored 3 half centuries including a quickfire 89 in a losing cause where South Africa put on a mammoth total of 438.

T20I career

Rahane made his international debut for India in a Twenty20 International against England at Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester in August 2011. He scored a half-century on this match (61 of 49) against an England attack comprising Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann and Tim Bresnan. The match was the only T20I played by former Indian captain Rahul Dravid.

Rahane was part of Indian team make it to the final of 2014 World T20. After sitting on the bench for the first 3 matches he got a chance to play against Australia where he scored 19 runs. He gave India a good start in the semi final scoring 32 runs as India went on to win the Match.He also captained India in the 2 Twenty20 International against Zimbabwe, winning the first and losing the second match.He scored 33 and 4 runs in those matches.[34]

IPL career

Rahane was widely regarded as not being a Twenty20 player going into 2012 Indian Premier League, but had a superb season for Rajasthan Royals. Previously he was in the Mumbai Indians squads and got limited opportunities.[10] And then, he caught the eye of Rajasthan Royals’ Shane Watson, who had watched him score an 80-ball hundred in a session in the second innings of a three-day game against Australia A in 2010. Having bought him from the Mumbai Indians, Rahul Dravid and Watson got Rahane to open the innings. “Opening the batting with Rahul bhai gave me a chance to express myself and showcase all that I had learnt over the years,” says Rahane.[18]

Ajinkya Rahane in IPL (2008–15)
TeamsMatchesRunsHSAveSR100
MI,RR and RPS802182103*34.63119.411

Rahane has had a successful stint with Rajasthan Royals so far, playing famously under Rahul Dravid's mentorship.[35] Rahane rose to prominence in the Premier League world in 2012 season for Rajasthan Royals. He hit a match-winning 98 in his first game of IPL 2012 against Kings XI Punjab[36] and followed that up with an unbeaten 103 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.[37] His 84 off 63 balls against Delhi Daredevils was in vain though, as they lost by just one run.[38] In Premier League 2012 Rahane became the first batsman to hit a century and emerged the leading run-scorer for Rajasthan Royals.[28] He was retained by the Royals for the 2014 Premier League season.[39]

Over the years, Rahul Dravid has been given a lot of credit for the way Rahane has matured as a player. Dravid, who captained the Royals before becoming team mentor, knows a thing or two about grabbing an opportunity with both hands. With Dravid guiding him, Rahane has transformed from a shy, longer format specialist into a player capable of batting at any position, in any format. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar told NDTV, "What has been impressive about Rahane's career is the way he has made those little changes that have helped him to get better in every format of the game. This batsman is a thinking batsman, who keeps thinking about how to get better and that is why he is such a vital cog in the Rajasthan Royals team and a vital cog in the Indian cricket team."[40]

Playing style

Rahane plays in the middle-order for the national team in Test and ODI cricket and as an opener in all forms of T20 cricket. He batted in the top three for Mumbai - starting out as an opener and later playing at No. 3 .[41] Rahane is widely praised by Dhoni for his batting technique, commitment and discipline to the game, often being compared with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. He has been described on a number of occasions as "one of the rising stars of Indian cricket".[21][42][43][44] Former Australian captain Steve Waugh compared Rahane to the batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar due to his compact technique, range of shots and most importantly temperament.[45]

[46] Rahane is a versatile player who adapts to the pitch and weather conditions easily, for which he has performed consistently on overseas pitches.[47] His trademark shot is the back foot square punch towards the off side against the seamers. He is also a good hooker and puller of the ball. Against spinners, his most productive shot is the slog sweep over mid-wicket. He occasionally uses his feet and comes down the pitch to loft the ball over the bowlers head for a boundary or the maximum. He is a good timer of the ball, The gift of timing combined with power is what makes Rahane successful in all-formats, according to skipper Virat Kohli.[48]

Rahane is also a very good fielder, who has good reflexes and anticipation along with his calm and composed attitude, making him the 'complete package' as a field, according to Indian fielding coach R Sridhar.[49] On 15 August 2015, he broke the record of most catches in a test match when he took 8 catches in the first test against Sri Lanka at Galle in 2015.[50]

Records and Achievements

Test Matches

T20 Matches

International centuries

Test centuries

Ajinkya Rahane's Test centuries
# Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year Result
1 118 5  New Zealand New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Basin Reserve 2014 Drawn
2 103 7  England United Kingdom London, England, United Kingdom Lord's Cricket Ground 2014 Won
3 147 13  Australia Australia Melbourne, Australia Melbourne Cricket Ground 2014 Drawn
4 126 17  Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Colombo, Sri Lanka P Sara Oval 2015 Won
5 127 22  South Africa India Delhi, India Feroz Shah Kotla Ground 2015 Won
6 100*
7 108* 24  West Indies Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica Sabina Park 2016 Drawn
8 188 29  New Zealand India Indore, India Holkar Cricket Stadium 2016 Won

One Day International centuries

Ajinkya Rahane's One Day International centuries
# Runs Match Against City/Country Venue Year Result
1 106 33  England United Kingdom Birmingham, England, United Kingdom Edgbaston Cricket Ground 2014 Won
2 112 38  Sri Lanka India Cuttack, India Barabati Stadium 2014 Won

Awards

Honorary awards and appreciations

Test cricket

Man of the Match awards

S No Series Season Match Performance Result
1 4th Test - The Freedom Trophy Test series 2015/16 1st innings: 127 (215 balls, 11x4, 4x6) ; 2 ct.
2nd innings: 100* (206 balls, 8x4, 3x6) ; 1 ct.
 India won by 337 runs.[54]

ODI cricket

Man of the Match awards

S No Opponent Venue Date Match Performance Result
1 England PCA Stadium, Mohali 20 October 2011 91 (104 balls, 6×4)  India won by 5 wickets.[55]
2 Bangladesh Shere Bangla Stadium, Dhaka 15 June 2014 2 ct. ; 64 (70 balls, 5×4, 2×6)  India won by 7 wickets (D/L).[56]
3 England Edgbaston, Birmingham 2 September 2014 1 ct. ; 106 (100 balls, 10×4, 4x6)  India won by 9 wickets.[57]
4 Sri Lanka Barabati Stadium, Cuttack 2 November 2014 111 (108 balls, 13×4, 2x6); 1 ct.  India won by 179 runs.[58]

References

  1. Ajinkya Rahane | India Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials. ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved on 2013-12-23.
  2. "Professional companies should manage cricketers". Yahoo Cricket India. 9 June 2013.
  3. ESPN Cricinfo Player Profile Rahane, AM
  4. "Virat Kohli's name recommended for Khel Ratna, Ajinkya Rahane for Arjuna Award". ABP Live. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "A childhood dream finally realised". Cricibuzz. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  6. "I want a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin: Ajinkya Rahane". Times of India. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  7. "My struggle begins now: Ajinkya Rahane". DNA India. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  8. "Ajinkya Rahane's debut ton extremely important for his career: Pravin Amre". NDTV. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  9. "JUST MARRIED: Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane ties the knot!". english.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 Navneet Mundhra. I've learned to adapt, improvise: Rahane Sep 13, 2012 IBN
  11. "Mohammed Nissar Trophy:Karachi Urban v Mumbai at Darwin, 8–11 September 2007". Cricinfo. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  12. "Records - First-class matches - Batting records - Highest career batting average - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  13. "Group A: Hyderabad (India) v Mumbai at Hyderabad (Deccan), Dec 1-4, 2009 - Cricket Scorecard - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  14. "Ranji Oneday Trophy:2nd Quarter Final :Delhi v Mumbai at Delhi, 18 March 2007". Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  15. 1 2 "Long wait for Mumbai and Ajinkya Rahane finally ends". NDTV 22 March 2013
  16. Cricket Australia PLAYER PROFILE AJINKYA RAHANE
  17. 1 2 Forbes India
  18. "Ajinkya Rahane showcases his No. 6 mettle - Cricket - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  19. 1 2 Shiva Jayaraman "Rahane's ton and India's lower-order success" ESPN Cricinfo
  20. 1 2 Nick Hoult "Ajinkya Rahane succeeds where the great Sachin Tendulkar failed with Lord's Test century" 17 Jul 2014
  21. "Ajinkya Rahane shows his X-factor - Cricket - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
  22. Press Trust of India. "Was nervous before first Test at the Lord's: Ajinkya Rahane" India Today July 18, 2014
  23. "Ajinkya Rahane Rues Missed Chance, Says Dismissal Was Disappointing". ndtv.com.
  24. "Ali spins England to equaliser". icc-cricket.com.
  25. Jeswant, Bishen (14 August 2015). "Rahane takes world record eight catches". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  26. "Rahane, Mishra climb to career best 20th and 39th spots in rankings". The Hindu. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
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  30. CRICINFO
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  32. CRICINFO
  33. http://sports.ndtv.com/zimbabwe-vs-india-2015/news/245799-india-stand-in-captain-ajinkya-rahane-credits-zimbabwe-for-squaring-t20-series
  34. "Ajinkya Rahane to employ 'baseball technique' at World T20". intoday.in.
  35. "4th match: Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab at Jaipur, Apr 6, 2012". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  36. "18th match: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Rajasthan Royals at Bangalore, Apr 15, 2012". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  37. "39th match: Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals at Delhi, Apr 29, 2012". Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  38. "Rajasthan Royals retain Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson". ndtv.com.
  39. http://sports.ndtv.com/indian-premier-league-2015/features/241006-ipl-8-the-evolution-of-ajinkya-rahane-into-a-shorter-format-menace
  40. Jamie Alter "Ajinkya Rahane's long wait for a Test debut must end in Delhi" CNN-IBN
  41. Cricket Australia PLAYER PROFILE AJINKYA RAHANE
  42. Press Trust of India. Ajinkya Rahane employing baseball hitting technique for T20s, says coach Praveen Amre 13 March 2014 NDTV
  43. "Match Point : Australia v India, 3rd Test, Melbourne, 3rd day - From flashy opener to solid middle-order bat - Cricket videos, MP3, podcasts, cricket audio - ESPN Cricinfo". Cricinfo.
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  45. http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/cross-batted-shots-broke-my-bat-as-a-kid-so-i-played-straight-ajinkya-rahane/1180585/
  46. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/south-africa-in-india/top-stories/Work-ethics-key-to-Ajinkya-Rahanes-success-abroad/articleshow/48324972.cms
  47. http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/cricket/what-makes-ajinkya-rahane-the-man-for-all-seasons-tick
  48. http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-india-2015/content/story/909645.html
  49. 1 2 "Match with Rahane's World Record of 8 catches". 15 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  50. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/south-africa-in-india/top-stories/4th-Test-Ajinkya-Rahane-becomes-fifth-Indian-to-score-twin-centuries/articleshow/50062034.cms
  51. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/south-africa-in-india/top-stories/Ajinkya-Rahane-Kumar-Sangakkara-conferred-with-CEAT-awards/articleshow/47419825.cms
  52. http://www.rediff.com/cricket/report/awards/20071216.htm
  53. "Freedom Trophy - 4th Test".
  54. "England in India ODI Series, 2011 - 3rd ODI".
  55. "India in Bangladesh ODI Series, 2014 - 1st ODI".
  56. "India in England ODI Series, 2014 - 4th ODI".
  57. "Sri Lanka in India ODI Series, 2014 - 1st ODI".

External links

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