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There’s a likelihood Ajinkya Rahane could make way for Aaron Finch once the Australia white-ball captain returns from the tour of Pakistan. Kolkata Knight Riders’ eleven on Saturday—fielding three overseas players in Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Sam Billings—also points towards that possibility. If that happens, will it mean the end of the road for Rahane? Only time can tell. Trust Rahane though to give his best and not fret too much about the uncontrollables. That approach was rewarding on Saturday as Rahane set up KKR’s six-wicket win against CSK with a fluent 44.
One of the more inscrutable trends in Indian cricket is how Rahane always tends to land up in a position justifying his necessity. And while it seems to resonate as long as we are talking first-class cricket, the idea of Rahane in shorter formats has never really whipped up a storm. It isn’t his fault though. Rahane’s is a classic case of optics gone wrong for a man who rarely talks more than his bat even in unfavourable times. But here’s a small list of his achievements in a stop-start white-ball career—Rahane has hit five consecutive ODI fifties, a record matched only by Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma among Indians till date; shared a 231-run opening stand with Shikhar Dhawan against Sri Lanka in 2014, the third-highest opening stand by India; scored two IPL hundreds as opener (one as recent as in 2019) and still manages a decent IPL strike rate of 121.42.
Rahane has opened, batted at No 3 and lower in the order right up to No 8. Yet he has played just 11 matches in the last two editions. When the confidence is chipped away for such a long time, just an opportunity to play can make you feel good about the world again. No wonder Rahane was more psyched about that than his innings per se. “The only thing different this time is that I got an opportunity to play after a long time,” said Rahane in a virtual post-match press conference when he was asked how differently he has prepared for the IPL this time. “I have played very little in the last two years. Thanks to KKR who gave me the opportunity and the freedom to play my game. For me, it was simple—go out and play my natural game, don’t think too much about it.”
Easier said than done. Because as you watch Rahane’s innings and try to break it down, the better it becomes an exhibit in how to stay ahead of Chennai Super Kings who have defended lower totals in the past. There was that audacious pull over deep backward square for a six off Adam Milne and the reverse-swept four off Ravindra Jadeja that might suggest a bit of measured risk but Rahane also offset those beautifully with rasping drives that dissected the fields. Where Rahane effectively bested CSK though was in farming the strike and inching towards the 132-run target instead of trying to gallop towards it. And since the trick in defending small totals is conceding as less as possible in the first 10 overs so that the asking rate mounts quickly in the next half, KKR needed to stay ahead at the halfway mark.
They did exactly that at 76/2, courtesy Rahane. Till he was dismissed, KKR hadn’t scored below five runs in nine out of 11 overs, going up to 15 in the eighth over. At the heart of this ease were those deft ones and twos. It may not look pretty but nine singles and two twos in Rahane’s innings (13 out of 31 team runs scored in singles and twos till his dismissal in the 12th over) pretty much shut out CSK. With Shreyas Iyer in by then, KKR were never going to lose from there. And yet the highlights reel may always be a reminder of how Dhoni came out of a rut with a sparkling fifty but not Rahane.
Rahane wouldn’t mind as long as KKR value him. A side that prides itself in getting the best out of every recruit irrespective of the price tag, KKR must have also realised by now that Rahane offers a lot more than what meets the eye. Few know Mumbai’s grounds better than him. And in a setup based out of Mumbai, led by a Mumbai boy and with a former teammate Abhishek Nayar as assistant coach, this should already feel like home. For Rahane, this could very well be the start of a new chapter.
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