Rahane hits form ahead of Champions Trophy

Ajinkya Rahane ended a lean run in IPL 2017 for Rising Pune Supergiant with an invaluable half-century against Mumbai Indians on Tuesday in Qualifier 1 that will boost his confidence going into the ICC Champions Trophy, starting on June 1.

Rahane had struggled to such an extent that many had questioned his ability to bat at the top of the order for Rising Pune Supergiant.

His young partner Rahul Tripathi was doing well which doubled the pressure on Rahane. Despite the runs not coming, the opener was happy with the way he was batting, confident the runs would come.

On Tuesday, Rahane proved his mettle with a 43-ball 56 at his home ground to take Rising Pune Supergiant to a solid total. He stitched an 80-run third wicket stand with Manoj Tiwary (58) before MS Dhoni (40no) took Pune to 162.

It was the most important innings of this IPL for Rahane. It was a typical Rahane effort as he mixed caution with aggression to rebuild Pune’s innings. He dispatched anything loose and kept taking ones and twos to keep the on Friday.

If Rising Pune Supergiant were off to a horrendous start, Mumbai Indians also began on a disastrous note. While RPS managed to build a partnership after losing their top two run-getters Rahul Tripathi (0) and skipper Steven Smith (1) early, Mumbai Indians could not arrest their slide. scoreboard ticking. With the Champions Trophy around the corner, it was an important knock for Rahane, who will be fighting for the second opener’s spot with Shikhar Dhawan, the second highest run-getter in this edition.

His innings against MI again proved he is one of the best to dig his team out of trouble when the chips are down.