India’s stand-in captain for the Test series Down Under, Ajinkya Rahane has revealed the process behind the remarkable turn around in the series. Easily, India’s best victory in Test cricket history, Rahane spoke to Marathi daily Sakal about how it all unfolded till the final Brisbane Test.
Rahane credited the leadership group of Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravi Ashwin and vice-captain Rohit Sharma for the win overseas and stated that the senior pros took additional responsibilities on themselves to instil belief in the Indian team that lacked experience.
Rahane could not have taken over the captaincy at a worst possible time. Before Virat Kohli’s scheduled return to India for the birth of his first child, the team was bundled out for just 36 runs in the first Test match in Adelaide. India’s lowest score in Test history.
Rahane told Sakal that his first message after getting the baton was that Adelaide was a closed chapter and nobody should discuss it.
"I told them that topic should not be discussed at all. The fact that we got all out for 36 is not any mistake. We should just accept it and move on. No point going in-depth and thinking about it because the [next Test] match was immediately starting in three days. My only message was: it happened in one hour. They [Australia] played good cricket. Such things happen once in a century. The faster we accept this happened and move on, that is good for us."
Leading from the front in the next game, Rahane score a magnificent 112 runs in the Boxing Day Test match at the MCG to set the tone for the rest of the series.
And the rest was history. Battered, bruised and depleted, Rahane’s India played out a gladiatorial draw at Sydney which they had no right to win and then went onto breach fortress Gabba to chase down 324 runs in the final day. Cheteshwar Pujara, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar battled for every inch on the final day of the Test match to win the game with three overs to spare.
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