Ajinkya Rahane's fastest 50 of IPL 2023: El Classico throws up a surprise new hero

It does not take long for your fortunes to change in life and in cricket. Ajinkya Rahane knows that better than anyone else.

When India conquered the Australian fortress in Brisbane in early 2021, it seemed like the world was at the feet of Ajinkya Rahane. His quiet, steely approach came to the fore as he delivered a famous Test series win in Australia which won the hearts and minds of everyone. The entire cricketing world praised Rahane for being able to steer India through adverse times with a third string squad.

It seemed like nothing could go wrong for him.

But then in less than 12 months, things started falling apart for Rahane as he first lost his role as vice-captain and then very soon his place in the Test line-up. This was the only format in which he played for India, having previously lost his place in the white-ball squads.

Ajinkya Rahane (Image source: Twitter/ajinkyarahane88)

The fall

So, expecting him to retain his place or get a new franchise to play for in the Indian Premier League (IPL) was always going to be a tall order. When the mega auction for the IPL was held before the 2022 edition, Rahane was bought by Kolkata Knight Riders for Rs 1 crore.

Just a few months after losing his place in the Indian Test squad, Rahane entered the 2022 IPL with a lot of hope of trying to resurrect his sagging fortunes. But after starting off with a knock of 44 off 34 balls against the Chennai Super Kings in his first game, Rahane’s returns diminished. He made scores of 9, 12, 7 and 8.

And then tragedy struck!

Rahane picked up a hamstring injury and he was ruled out of the remainder of the IPL 2022 season requiring time for rehab and recovery. It seemed like nothing could go right for the Mumbaikar. His fall from grace was now complete.

Kolkata even went ahead and released Rahane before the 2023 season. Rahane was now one of those forgotten Indian internationals who toil away in empty stadiums without any ray of hope.

Relentless climb

He got down to the business of getting his hands dirty by playing the entire 2022-23 domestic season for his beloved Mumbai. He was nominated as the leader of the side with Rohit Sharma, Shreyas Iyer and Shardul Thakur being away for India duties throughout the season.

Rahane started off the season well for Mumbai, leading them to the title in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, the inter-state T20 competition. During this tournament, Rahane logged 112 runs from eight innings at a strike rate of 117.89. In the domestic 50-over competition for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Rahane made a total of 263 runs in seven games at an average of 65.75 with two half-centuries.

The big turnaround happened when the longer format, Ranji Trophy, came along in late December 2022. Mumbai was hoping to go one better than in the 2021-22 season and Rahane, the skipper, was the big hope.

The second round of Ranji Trophy, starting from 20 December 2022, was going to clash with the auction for the IPL 2023 season. Franchises were making plans for players and looking at options. Rahane had been consigned to the sidelines, thanks to the vagaries of the format. It did not seem like any team would bid for him. He had obviously halved his base price and was now down to Rs 50 lakh.

Mumbai was playing Hyderabad in their second round Ranji Trophy match in Mumbai at the MCA’s BKC club ground. As if to send a message to all and sundry, Rahane scored a brilliant 204 off 261 balls with 26 boundaries and three sixes. Then Rahane led astutely as Mumbai packed off Hyderabad in just three days with an innings and 217 run victory margin.

Ajinkya Rahane (Image source: Twitter/ajinkyarahane88)

IPL auction 2023: Surprise

This win was achieved a day before the IPL auction slated for 23 December in Kochi. So even as the franchises were firming up their plans, Rahane sent a timely reminder. But it was still not certain that he would get picked by any of the franchises. He was, after all, considered to be ill-suited for the format.

When his name did come up, it was a big surprise that Chennai Super Kings plumped for him at his base price. The surprise factor was also because of what Chennai’s numero uno Mahendra Singh Dhoni had previously thought of Rahane’s skills in white-ball cricket back in 2015.

“He needs pace. We have seen that he plays a lot better when there is pace on a wicket. Whenever he (Rahane) has played at No. 4 or No. 5, if the wicket is slow, then he struggles to rotate the strike freely. Especially when he is just starting his innings, he has a bit of trouble. It is not easy,” Dhoni said back in June 2015 after losing an ODI series in Bangladesh.

It was therefore difficult to imagine the same Dhoni backing Rahane eight years on unless he had a plan for him in his mind.

The mind did go back to Dhoni’s praise of Rahane during the 2015 ODI World Cup, held in February-March of that year. "Rahane is definitely one of the individuals who is not really rigid. He is quite open to ideas," Dhoni had praised Rahane then. "Once he tries out a new idea, he gives you a good response as to whether it's working or not working for him. Also, he's one of the fittest guys. You see him on the field, he's very quick, and his intensity actually never drops right from the first over until the 90th over. If you see a Test match, which to me is what fitness is all about,” added Dhoni.

So, the Chennai supremo knew exactly why he was backing Rahane in 2022-23.

Ajinkya Rahane

Fastest 50 of IPL 2023

Having achieved a place in his sixth IPL franchise, Rahane went back to scoring runs for Mumbai in the remainder of the Ranji Trophy season. He ended on 634 runs from seven matches at an average of 57.63 with two hundreds and a half-century.

But the season for Mumbai ended on 24 January 2023. The IPL 2023 season was still a couple of months away. Rahane spent time preparing for the new season by turning out for his employers, Indian Oil, in the DY Patil T20 Cup in Navi Mumbai. He showed in that tournament that he was prepared to score briskly and was ready to be as ‘flexible’ as Dhoni had found him to be back in 2015.

There was, however, little indication of Rahane’s blitz at his beloved Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night (8 April) when Chennai Super Kings began its chase against the home team, Mumbai Indians.

Rahane had begun the season much the same way as the previous few with other sides that he played for, like Delhi Capitals and Kolkata Knight Riders, unsure of his place in the final XI. He did not start the season as expected in the XI and instead warmed the benches. It seemed like the same old story playing out again.

Rahane came to Wankhede Stadium on Saturday evening for what was dubbed the El Classico of the IPL, against Mumbai, once again prepared to be in the dressing room rather than on the field.

Just before the toss, Rahane got an unexpected news from Chennai’s head coach Stephen Fleming, a former New Zealand captain. “I got to know before the toss. Moeen (Ali) was unwell. And Flem (Stephen Fleming) told me I was playing,” revealed Rahane. “IPL is a long tournament and you never know when you get an opportunity.”

Rahane started preparing earnestly for the contest.

Mumbai batted first and ended on a sub-par 157 for eight in their 20 overs. Chennai lost their opener Devon Conway in the very first over and in walked an under-pressure Rahane at No. 3.

Absolutely no one was prepared for what happened next in the contest. It seemed like a new, rebranded Rahane was unveiled at the Wankhede as he smoked Mumbai Indians’ beleaguered bowling attack at will.

In the fourth over of the innings, Rahane scored 23 runs off an Arshad Khan over. The over read like this: 6, 4, 4, 4, 4, 1. Rahane had well and truly stunned everyone watching worldwide and at the stadium with his breath-taking approach.

Rahane needed two more boundaries and a six to complete his half-century off just 19 balls, the fastest of this season. He is now second in the list of fastest half-centuries for Chennai behind Suresh Raina who scored 50 off 16 balls in 2014, with Dhoni (19 balls) in third place in 2012.

Rahane ultimately ended on 61 off just 27 balls with seven boundaries and three sixes. This blitzkrieg by Rahane helped Chennai down Mumbai in a one-sided encounter. Chennai won quite easily and the talk was naturally about Rahane’s effort with the bat.

One man who was absolutely pleased with his effort was skipper Dhoni.

“Me and Jinks (Rahane) spoke right at the start, and he was like what are you looking at from me and I told him what I had in mind. I told him to play to his strengths. He is not someone who will consistently hit sixes but you can use your ability to manipulate the fields. He is very sound technically. I told him to go and enjoy, don't take stress and we'll back you. He batted well and he was not happy with the way he got out, that says it all,” Dhoni said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

Rahane had previously played for Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Rising Pune Super Giants and Delhi Capitals. For Delhi, he had featured in just two games, while for Kolkata last year, he played in seven matches.

So when he went out to bat on Saturday night, not much was expected of him. “When we were bowling, we got the idea of how the wicket was playing and how the ball was behaving. When you are chasing 150 or 160, it's important to bat with intent in the first six overs. If you get a good start, it becomes really easy. When I went in, it was all about playing my normal game, backing my strengths,” said Rahane in the post-match press conference.

Watching from afar was England’s 2019 ODI World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan who could not stop waxing eloquent about the Mumbai man. Morgan lauded Chennai’s camp for backing Rahane despite the obvious handicap of not being suited for the T20 format.

“It’s always a great sign of an unbelievable culture, and they continuously do it over and over again, squeezing the most out of their players no matter what age they are. And you have to really tip your cap to M.S. Dhoni and Stephen Fleming,” Morgan said on JioCinema.

Former Australian all-rounder and multiple IPL franchise head coach Tom Moody also praised Rahane for his aggressive innings. “It's a great story. I think everyone enjoys when Jinks scores runs because he's just one of those likeable characters,” said Moody on ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time:Out.

Moody felt that preparation was key in Rahane’s success in his debut game for Chennai. "The thing that first came to mind was that I believe he's had a very good first-class season leading into this, so he's clearly got some good form behind him. He wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. He was just playing proper cricketing shots, cuts and drives and flicks off his pads. But it was vintage Rahane on show tonight.”

Suddenly all the talk around Rahane is about a possible India Test comeback. A fact that is not lost on the man himself. “For me, it's all about, as a player, giving my best every time and trying to be as positive as possible and, whenever I get an opportunity, I should be ready for that," said Rahane. “Whatever format I play, it's all about giving my best every time rather than thinking 'what if?' or thinking about the future which is not in my hands, not in my control.”

It does not take long for your fortunes to change in life and in cricket. Rahane knows that better than anyone else. “Anything can happen… as I always say, I will never give up,” signed off Rahane, as he began dreaming big once again.