Ajinkya Rahane came out all guns blazing on Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test in Centurion and the loss of the Test vice-captaincy may have unburdened him, according to former India batting coach Sanjay Bangar.
Rahane remained unbeaten on 40, hitting as many as 8 boundaries as he stitched a 73-run stand with centurion KL Rahul in the final session on Boxing Day against South Africa. Rahane looked positive and punished each and every loose ball that came his way. He was driving and pulling with conviction that had eluded him over the last 10 months in Test cricket.
“At times, certain events can actually relieve you, maybe, lessen the burden a bit. Him being relieved of the vice-captaincy would have sent a particular signal to him, which obviously plays on every players’ mind. He has come out all guns blazing. He has been very positive in his footwork, he has put away all the bad balls,” Bangar told Star Sports.
“He is the sort of player who likes to get good and quick starts. That was very similar to the way Rahul Dravid used to start his innings. He used to like to get to, say 20, in quick time so that there is less pressure on him. And that’s why Rahane also shows a similar pattern. All the innings where he has been successful, he has gotten off to flyers and then settled in nicely,” he added.
Rahane’s last big score came at last year’s Boxing Day Test when he led India’s comeback after their 36-all out in Adelaide with a match-winning hundred in Melbourne.
In the lead-up to the first Test in South Africa, it was expected that either Shreyas Iyer or Hanuma Vihari would take the No. 5 spot, but Rahane got the nod and he has made good use of it so far.
India went to Stumps at 272/3 with KL Rahul remaining unbeaten on 122. Mayank Agarwal hit 60 but big guns Cheteshwar Pujara (0) and Virat Kohli (35) failed to get going at the SuperSport Park.
