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Out of comfort zone & outside India, Ajinkya Rahane does it again

Pushing Ajinkya Rahane up to No.3 was more like him serving the punishment for Rohit Sharma’s misgivings.

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Ajinkya Rahane’s 126 was his first century in the subcontinent. Each of his four tons have been scored outside India. (Source: Reuters)

YOU wonder what must have through Ajinkya Rahane’s mind when team director Ravi Shastri informed him on the eve of the second Test that he would be giving up his favoured No.5 position and instead receive a forced promotion up the order. It was a spot that Rahane had grown accustomed to and made his own for just over 12 months. The Mumbai right-hander had come at the fall of the third wicket in 20 straight innings, averaging 44.22 and scoring two eye-catching centuries at two of the most memorable venues in the world – Lord’s and the MCG. And here he was being asked to abdicate that comfort zone, not for any other reason, but to fill in for a teammate who had fumbled rather distressingly at the same challenge.

It wasn’t the first time that Rahane had been asked to swap with his long-standing sparring partner, Rohit Sharma, either. When India went to South Africa in late 2013, in what was looked at as the first epoch-breaking venture for the young team, it was Rohit who was slotted at No.5. He continued at that position even in New Zealand, before Rahane overtook him in the pecking order with a Test ton at Wellington. So when India then went to England, the switcheroo was in order and orchestrated to great effect. Rohit would eventually even lose his spot in the team before returning at No.3, and failing again.

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No wonder it seemed a tad unfair that Rahane should walk out under dark, cloudy skies and edge a perfectly delivered out-swinger from Dhammika Prasad to slip. If anything he was the fall guy for another batsman’s botches.

Pushing him up to No.3 was more like him serving the punishment for Rohit’s misgivings.

But like he’s shown already in his nascent Test career, the greatest strength of Rahane lies in his ability to adapt, and the ability to look at an open challenge as a chance to succeed rather than to fail. Like he showed on Sunday at the P’Sara Oval with a chanceless century on a wicket that wasn’t the easiest to score on.

Being a ‘team man’ can come with its own cons. But it’s an enviable reputation to possess. And it’s one that has spring-boarded Rahane into the top tier of the senior management within the team. No wonder it was he who Virat Kohli put in charge when the captain went off the field with a hand injury on the third day.

It’s like when he’s asked to jump, he jumps, without any question about how high or how low, almost as if he’s inherently aware of what the team expects of him. The visitors required Rahane to buckle down in the hot and humid air of Colombo, and lay the platform for a potentially massive victory at the Oval. Rahane did just that.

In the morning session, he played the perfect accomplice to Murali Vijay’s daredevilry before combining with Rohit for a hard-working partnership that propelled the team forward. In neither of those partnerships was the spotlight on Rahane. Yet, he never stopped accumulating the runs. And the confidence in the middle has rubbed off on his otherwise shy and reserved persona. It was inevitable that he would have to deal with the No.3 debate. And Rahane was ready for it, just like he was ready for anything that the Lankans threw at him.

“Like you said I fit in anywhere,” he said. “But first time coming at number three and getting a hundred for your team and country, this will remain very special for me.”

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