Upbeat Rahane dismisses criticism
There are batsmen who counterattack when runs dry up. Others dig deeper to find renewed belief in their abilities. If Ajinkya Rahane looked like he was going against his natural instincts in the last few months in an effort to rediscover his batting form, in the second innings at Lord’s, he went back to doing what he does best—playing the bowling on merit.
Rahane hasn’t acknowledged he has lost form. He could cite his fluent 49 at the World Test Championship final or his 67 on a turning Chennai track this year. His career best hundred at Melbourne came last December. Yet his career average has been dropping steadily, it’s just a touch over 40 now, and there’s little doubt he has not been consistent over the last 18 months.
“I am happy people are talking about me. I always believe people talk about important people,” Rahane said when asked if pressure was building. “I am not too concerned about that.”
The 61 at Lord’s wasn’t anywhere close to peak Rahane. And he had Cheteshwar Pujara for company, also short on runs. It was a situation tailor made for rear guard action. What they both had was reserves of inner steel, which is what they fell back on in their 297-ball 100-run partnership.
Initially, run scoring was a struggle. But in the final analysis, the partnership laid down the path for the bowlers to do the demolition job. “It was all about hanging in there. Our communication was all about thinking of small targets and build it from there,” he said. “We always talk about Cheteshwar playing slow but that innings of him, even though he got only 46, was really important for us. He batted 200 plus balls.” The feature of that partnership wasn’t only that it
came under pressure, but also how both of them trusted their methods to overpower pressure. “We backed each other. He (Pujara) told me to back my game. I told him to back his own game whichever method he wanted to go with,” Rahane said. “I thought that communication was really good. We just wanted to build a good partnership. We knew that 170-180 would be a good score on that wicket.”
While Pujara showed no hurry to break the shackles, Rahane had begun to use the sweep, a lofted chip against spin, and the pull against fast bowlers once he found his groove. With India 1-0 up in the series and the home side battling problems galore, the middle order— Rahane, Pujara and Virat Kohli—all have an opportunity to make run scoring business as usual again, as India head to Headingly.
Wood ruled out
LONDON: Mark Wood was ruled out of the third Test. The 31-yearold has a jarred right shoulder, a result of diving headlong into an advertising hoarding when saving a boundary on the fourth evening of the Lord’s Test. Even though he bowled at speeds in excess of 150 kph on the final day, he has been judged not fit for the starting line-up for the game at Headingley.