Rajendra Prasad Mohapatra

Ajinkya Rahane is one of the most respected players in the Indian cricket team today, mainly due to his calming presence and aggressiveness on the field at the same time. The right-handed batter, known as ‘Mr Dependable’ was born in a village named Ashwi Khurd in Maharashtra on 6th June, 1988.

Rahane, who plays first-class cricket for Mumbai, made his international debut in 2011. After the retirement of legendry players like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, and Rahul Dravid, Rahane has formed the nucleus of the Indian middle-order along with Virat Kohli.

Rahane has amassed 4931 runs at an average of 38.52 with 12 centuries and 25 fifties from 82 Tests. He has an enviable captaincy record in red-ball cricket for India, winning four out of six matches and losing none. 

Rahane was the skipper of the Indian team during India’s emphatic Test series win over Australia in the 2020-21 season Down Under. He hit a scintillating hundred in the second Test of that series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as India completed a remarkable comeback.

When, everybody had written Rahane off as he was discarded from the Indian team after a series of dismal performances, he grinded himself in the domestic cricket and came back with a new aggressive avatar for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. Riding on his splendid shows, he made a stunning come back to the Indian team for the marqee World Test Championship (WTC) Final to be played against formidable Australia at the Oval starting from June 7.

Let’s know about some unknown facets of Jinx (as Rahane is popularly known):

Humble beginning

Rahane was born in a lower middle class family in Dombivali, a distant suburb of Mumbai. His father was working in a transportation company and his mother was a housewife. He had joined a cricket academy when he was only seven years old. At that time, his objective was to do some exercise and stay fit instead of wasting time at home. He used to break glass windows while playing gully cricket.

Black belt

Rahane is known for his technically solid batting and his electric fielding. Off the field, the gentle cricketer also pursued karate and has a black belt in it. 

Strong comeback in childhood

Rahane was hit by three consecutive bouncers on his helmet at the age of eight, while playing at Dombivili by a bowler who was thrice his age. Rahane started crying. However, after sometime, he stood up and smashed the same bowler for five consecutive boundaries.

First man to hit six fours in an over in T20

Rahane smashed a century against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in IPL 2012. In his brilliant knock, Rahane hit six fours in an over off the bowling of Sreenath Aravind. This was the first time someone had done it in T20 cricket.

Most catches in a Test

During a Test between Sri Lanka and India at Galle in August 2015, Rahane broke the previous best record of taking most catches in a single Test by taking eight catches. Probably he is the best slip catcher for India after Rahul Dravid.

Centuries in both the innings

During the fourth Test between India and South Africa at Delhi in 2015, Rahane scored centuries in both the innings. Before him, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Hazare had scored centuries in both the innings of a Test match.

Master Blaster’s praise

Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar has heaped praise on Rahane for his character both on and off the ground. In his book ‘Playing it my way’, Tendulkar wrote, “I had known Rahane for years and had seen how much he loves the game. He has served cricket with complete dedication and commitment over the last few years. I said to him that he might feel hard done by what had happened in his career so far, but should continue to be the way he is, for I was sure Ajinkya would get another chance.”

Well, Rahane never disappointed the legendry batsman!!!
 

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