WTC Final: Amid top order failure, Ajinkya Rahane gives India some chance with gritty knock

Ajinkya Rahane (file image)

It is often said that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. Ajinkya Rahane celebrated his comeback into the Indian Test team after being left out of the squad for eight Test matches between March 2022 and March 2023 with a fighting half-century, and falling short of a well-deserved century by 11 runs.

Rahane had not only scored a match-winning century in Melbourne after India’s dubious 36 all out the previous Test in Adelaide on the 2020-21 tour of Australia, but also led India to a glorious Test series win with his calm approach.

It was this same approach that Rahane, who turned 35 on the eve of the Ultimate Test - the World Test Championship final currently under way at The Oval in London - employed against Australia. Just when the famed Indian top-order collapsed with none of the top four going past 15, Rahane came to the rescue act, first in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (48) on Day 2 evening and then with his Mumbai city-mate Shardul Thakur on Day 3 morning to help India avoid the embarrassment of being asked to follow-on, though rarely do teams enforce it now-a-days.

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Six-and-a-half weeks ago, Rahane was not at all sure about his comeback into the Test squad for the WTC final. A little over two months ago, he was not even a certainty to play in the IPL for the eventual champions Chennai Super Kings. However, with his CSK team-mate Moeen Ali falling sick just before the toss against Mumbai Indians on April 8, Rahane got a lifeline.

Scoring a blazing 61 at No. 3, atypical of him, Rahane steered CSK to a big win against Mumbai Indians. Since then, he has not looked back, scoring 209 runs at 52.25 in five innings and more importantly at a strike rate of 199.05 that suddenly he became the talking point of the IPL. Questions about his potential comeback into the Indian Test squad and whether he was eyeing a spot for the WTC final were inevitable.

When the BCCI announced the Test squad for the WTC final, Rahane’s name in it did not surprise many, least of all himself, as he believed in giving his best, working hard and staying in the present with the selection taking care of itself. The right-handed middle-order batsman from Mumbai was included for his vast experience for as important a match as the WTC final even as his return to the Test squad was made somewhat easier by the lower back injury to Shreyas Iyer and his unavailability.

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As it turned out, he used all his experience of having played in 82 Tests to help put up a fight against the dominating Aussies, who were sitting pretty with a first innings total of 469. Rahane walked in to bat on Day 2 afternoon when India were 50 for three. Soon, he saw the back of Virat Kohli and India were soon 71 for four.

“You cannot buy experience in a supermarket, can you?” said former India batsman and now coach, Pravin Amre, to Moneycontrol on Friday evening.

Rahane copped a nasty blow on his bottom hand forefinger early in his innings but did not budge. He had a task on hand of saving the Indian team. Unlike the current batting sensation Shubman Gill and the Test match specialist Cheteshwar Pujara, whodid not know where their off-stumps were and got bowled cheaply, unlike his skipper Rohit Sharma hardly moving his feet to be trapped leg before wicket, and unlike Virat Kohli succumbing to the extra bounce and edging behind, Rahane batted with utmost clarity.

Unlike the IPL-style in which he breezed to 326 crucial runs in 11 innings at 32.60 and a strike rate of 172.49, Rahane was back to old Test-match batting style. Even as Jadeja scored runs quickly on Thursday evening, Rahane was the man who had to grind the Aussie attack. He knew that the team looked up to him to do the job in crisis. While not being over cautious, he picked up runs when the balls were there to be hit to keep the scoreboard ticking too, while also playing the waiting game.

While he cut, drove and steered through the gaps for delightful boundaries, Rahane did not curb his attacking instincts, pulling the rival captain Pat Cummins majestically for a huge six over long leg to reach his 26th Test fifty.

With the man on a mission, even Lady Luck smiled on him not once, not twice, but thrice. Having been given out leg before wicket for 17 on Thursday, Rahane survived as Cummins had just bowled a no ball. He was also lucky on 53 when umpire Chris Gaffaney withheld an LBW appeal from Cameron Green, as it stayed Umpire’s Call on wickets as it was straying down leg-side. Had Gaffaney upheld the appeal, Rahane would have gone for 53.

Again, after adding 19 to his score, Rahane was dropped by David Warner at first slip off Cummins as the ball jumped off the edge of the bat. Rahane, who became the 13th Indian to cross 5,000 Test runs during the course of the day when on 69, having moved from 68 to 70 with a two, was looking good for his 13th Test century.

However, he ran out of luck when soon after resumption post lunch on Friday. He was snapped brilliantly by Green at gully when on 89. Rahane’s 109-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Thakur (51), who helped himself to his fourth Test fifty, and third at The Oval, were crucial in India putting up a fight.

At The Oval, one of the oldest centres where a Test match is being played for the first time ever in June, the Australian batsmen made hay when the sun shone brightly after the overcast conditions in the initial hour on Day 1. It turned into a beautiful batting strip while also having bounce and some assistance for the bowlers.

Batsmen with supreme skills survived and scored runs, and Rahane did well to become India’s first batsman to notch a fifty in a World Test Championship final. He top-scored for India in the first WTC final against New Zealand in Southampton two years ago with 49 in the first innings. He again top-scored for India in India’s first innings this time against another team from Down Under.

He put behind his poor record at The Oval, where in three previous Tests, he tallied 55 including three ‘ducks’ and averaged 9.17, and batted like he is known to in demanding circumstances.

Amre, under whom Rahane has worked a lot in the past, was pleased with his efforts. He told Moneycontrol on Friday evening: “I am disappointed that he did not get his hundred. However, I am happy that he saved the follow-on for India. It shows how he is hungry for success. His technique and temperament are of the highest league. It was good to see both him and Shardul play well and bail India out.”

Amre, who scored a century on his Test debut three decades ago against South Africa, added: “The most important thing is when the team needs somebody to be there in the middle and score, he is the one who raises his hand, playing with calmness. He has gone through the grind when he was dropped from the Test squad. He scored runs in the domestic season including 204 and 191 in Ranji Trophy. He has been amongst runs in red-ball format. He was not supposed to play in IPL but the unavailability of Moeen Ali gave him the chance. And, the rest is history.

“On The Oval pitch, every batsman was tested. Rahane did not miss the opportunity of scoring. His partnership with Shardul helped India save the follow-on and take India to within four runs of 300. This innings must have given Rahane tremendous satisfaction and he did whatever was within him. Rahane batting the entire first session with Shardul was crucial for India. Had they not done it, Australia would have taken a bigger lead and the match would have gone out of India’s control. Now, there is some match on.”