IND vs SA Live: Ajinkya Rahane’s career on the line – The 1st Test against South Africa was a do-or-die match for Ajinkya Rahane. A string of poor shows with the bat meant he lost his immunity of vice-captaincy and had to play a career-saving knock to keep his place after Virat Kohli showed faith in him. A well-made 48 no way took the focus away from him but it gave him a lifeline to fight another day. Follow India vs South Africa Live Updates on InsideSport.IN
Just a year ago, many wanted Ajinkya Rahane to become the Test captain replacing Virat Kohli after his heroics in Australia. But exactly a year later, his place in the Playing XI has been questioned repeatedly. With Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari both among runs, he needed to do something special in South Africa.
IND vs SA LIVE: Ajinkya Rahane’s resistance ends, knock of 48 likely to give another lifeline to Indian veteran batsman
Oh Jinks. What have you done!!🤦🏻♂️
Ajinkya Rahane really needs a lesson on how to leave a ball.
He was looking so good 🥲Waiting for @ThatCric8Girl ‘s tweet on this Dismissal 👀#INDvsSA #INDvSA #CricketTwitter #Cricket #BCCI #BoxingDayTest #AjinkyaRahane #Rahane #Centuriontest pic.twitter.com/np7YcNikY1
— Jonah Abraham 😷 (@JonahAbraham26) December 28, 2021
IND vs SA Live: Ajinkya Rahane in 2021 before 1st Test
- 411 runs in 21 innings
- At an average of 19.57, lower than R Ashwin, Shardul Thakur.
- In 21 innings, he only scored two half-centuries.
- In 21 innings, he was dismissed for single-digits eight times.
IND vs SA LIVE: Ajinkya Rahane’s resistance ends, knock of 48 likely to give another lifeline to Indian veteran batsman
There were talks of dropping him in favour of Shreyas Iyer but Virat Kohli, head coach Rahul Dravid and vice-captain KL Rahul all showed faith in him. He managed to keep both Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari out of Playing XI.
“It’s a very, very difficult decision to make. Ajinkya has been a very important part of our Test team and has played very, very crucial knocks in his career,” KL Rahul said ahead of the 1st Test.
Rahane did play as his life depended on him. That he had averaged just 19.57 in 2021 before the 1st Test against South Africa was definitely on his mind. But barring the ball he was dismissed off, his 102-ball stay was flawless. He was respectful to the odd bouncy deliveries but did go after the loose deliveries in a typical Rahane-esque approach.
IND vs SA LIVE: Ajinkya Rahane’s resistance ends, knock of 48 likely to give another lifeline to Indian veteran batsman
Fighting Spirit 🇿🇦🔥#SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/7DCWwBuvad
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) December 28, 2021
His 48-run knock not only helped himself but also helped India stop the slide following Virat Kohli’s wicket on Day 1. With KL Rahul he stitched together a 79-run stand for fourth-wicket to put India in command.
However, his resistance did come to a premature end on Day 3. In what could be only termed as the reminder of his poor form, he nicked a short ball off Lungi Ngidi to give a catch to Quinton de Kock behind the stumps. All his hard work had come to an abrupt end.
It was one of the deliveries that he was carefully leaving on Day 1 during his innings. But a moment of error in judgement meant, he had to depart.
During these excruciating last 12 months, Ajinkya Rahane only managed 411 runs in 21 innings with an average of just 19.57. He could only manage two half-centuries, worst than Shardul Thakur and Ravichandran Ashwin. However, the 48 could be just enough for him to stay afloat for another Test and keep Shreyas Iyer and Hanuma Vihari out of Playing XI.
IND vs SA LIVE: Ajinkya Rahane’s resistance ends, knock of 48 likely to give another lifeline to Indian veteran batsman
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