Cricket News: Top 5 Ajinkya Rahane innings in the IPL | Looking at the best 5 innings played by Ajinkya Rahane in the IPL
T20 cricket was initially dubbed to be a misfit to the more classical mould of cricketers. Many believed that they lacked the ingenuity to keep up with the pace of the shortest format of the game.
However, with time, it has come to light that the any teams needs to be made up of players with different attributes and skillsets to eventually succeed in the long run. There is space for most kinds of cricketers in the T20 game and hence the rather rigid stereotypes formed earlier began diminishing gradually.
In that context, the entire Indian cricket fraternity is building up to the Indian Premier League (IPL) auctions that will take place in Bengaluru next month. Several Indian internationals will be in the fray for selection and amongst them will also be former test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, despite his current form struggles.
After a couple of seasons with the Delhi Capitals, the 33-year-old will perhaps be in the radar of multiple sides looking to strengthen their top-order and add more experience and leadership qualities to their setup.
Having represented four different teams in the league, Rahane has played numerous valuable knocks for the sides over the years. In this article, we will be elaborating on five of his most impactful innings in the IPL.
Ajinkya Rahane: Top 5 innings in IPL cricket
105* vs Delhi Capitals, 2019
The Delhi Capitals had gradually embarked on their turnaround journey from 2019 onwards and were quite a force to reckoned with that year. Ishant Sharma kept things neat for them with the ball at start whereas the duo of Kagiso Rabada and Chris Morris provided the explosive pace at all stages of the innings.
However, Rahane, relieved of his captaincy duties, played an absolute stunner in Jaipur in April 2019 against a high-quality Delhi bowling unit. He maximized the powerplay overs by threading the gaps with perfection before taking on the charge against the spinners in the middle-overs.
The sheer ease with which he cleared the long boundary ropes of the Sawai Mansingh Stadium was testament to the pace that he scores runs with when in fine touch. With 11 boundaries and three sixes, Rahane brought up his century and stayed unbeaten at 105 at an exemplary strike rate of 166.67.
Certainly, it was one of his best nights for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) before parting ways with the franchise in the following season.
60 vs Mumbai Indians, 2017
Top-class batsmen step up to the occasions against difficult bowling attacks.
They look to counter-attack, preventing the opposition from piling up pressure on them. Across different formats, Rahane has been at his best whenever he has taken the attack to the opposition.
Playing for the now defunct Pune franchise in 2017, he put up a brilliant display of timing and fluent stroke-play against a Mumbai attack spearheaded by Jasprit Bumrah.
Rahane scored six boundaries and three sixes in his innings of 60 runs in 34 balls as he took on the Kiwi duo of Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan without any inhibitions right from the beginning.
Pune was chasing a steep total of 185 runs and Rahane’s terrific knock at a strike rate of 176.47 helped the team trounce the eventual champions of that season.
91 vs Delhi Capitals, 2015
Rahane has had a formidable record against the Delhi Capitals, averaging 65.33 and having scored six half-centuries and a century across the seasons against his former team.
Back in 2015, he was going through a purple patch of sorts with a string of commendable performances in a season he finished as the second-highest run-scorer in the league.
In addition to his two centuries in the league, there have been two instances where he has gotten to the 90s as well. This was one of those games against Delhi when everything seemed to click well for Rahane.
Playing at the Brabourne Stadium, Rajasthan were put to bat and the Indian batsman began stamping his authority on the proceedings right from the beginning.
Stitching a good partnership with Karun Nair, Rahane played throughout the length of the 20 overs to set up a brilliant total of 189 runs on the board. He bagged nine boundaries along with three sixes but also worked the ball around well for singles and doubles to sustain the momentum of the innings.
Donning the responsibility of a senior batsman well, the former RR skipper demonstrated his unique skillsets brilliantly in that game.
103* vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2012
In one of his earliest sublime knocks in the league, Rahane scored his inaugural century in the league against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2012.
Indian cricket was going through a phase of transition back then, with the selectors on the lookout for fresh talents especially in white-ball game.
Rahane had already debuted for India until then but this was arguably the first time that he made the world sit back and take notice of his undoubted cricketing prowess.
The RCB attack comprised of two fine, world-class spinners in Muttiah Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori but Rahane showed no mercy as he shredded their attack to bits with 12 boundaries in five sixes!
Over 75 per cent of his runs came from boundaries as he shouldered the responsibility for a rather fragile batting lineup and propelled RR to put up 195 runs on the board and eventually win the match fairly convincingly as well.
60 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2020
Rahane has fared best as an opener in the white-ball game but team dynamics required him to bat at number three for some part of IPL 2020. In one of the games, RCB were defending 153 runs against Delhi on a tricky surface in Abu Dhabi and the Capitals lost their opener Prithvi Shaw very early on to Mohammed Siraj.
RCB had a quality bowling unit with the likes of Morris, Mohammed Siraj, Isuru Udana and Yuzvendra Chahal at their disposal.
They were naturally looking to capitalize on the opening that emerged from Shaw’s dismissal but Rahane set his foot down and anchored the chase to absolute perfection.
Batting alongside Shikhar Dhawan, the 33-year-old kept the scoreboard ticking and always kept up with the required run rate through timely boundaries. He made a rather challenging chase look easy to the eye with some sensible level-headedness, game awareness and seamless batting.
He stayed on the crease right until the very end, securing Delhi an important victory at a crucial stage of the season. With a dynamic batting approach, Rahane has shown the ability to adapt to different roles over the years and that is prevalent from the several impactful innings that he has played in the IPL.
Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter
