On this day in 2020, December 27, Ajinkya Rahane played an innings that quietly changed the course of Indian Test cricket. This was not shrouded in noise or bravado. It happened following a trauma. India had recorded their lowest ever total in the previous match – a humiliating 36 in Adelaide. Captain Virat Kohli had returned home on paternity leave. Mohammed Shami was excluded from the tour. Umesh Yadav was injured. Trust was broken, belief questioned and Australia smelled blood. What followed at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was not just a response but a reclamation of dignity, led by a stand-in captain who spoke with his bat.India entered the second Test carrying the weight of collapse and expectations. When the second day began they were 36 for 1 after Australia were bowled out for 195, with the Adelaide echoes still going strong. The morning was cloudy, the ball was moving and Australia’s fast bowlers bowled disciplined lines.
Australia struck early. Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara fell in quick succession, briefly threatening another collapse. Yet, Rahane held on. From the first delivery he faced, his intention was clear. He drove straight when the ball was full, shot with control when it was short and trusted his defense when Australia looked for errors. A dropped catch at 78 off the second new ball proved decisive. Rahane continued on, making Australia pay for every missed opportunity.He patiently sewed the sleeves. Partnerships with Hanuma Vihari, Rishabh Pant and ultimately Ravindra Jadeja rebuilt India’s grip on the match. Vihari and Pant showed promise before falling, but Jadeja emerged as the perfect partner. Jadeja got off to a good start, chose his scoring areas carefully and let Rahane dictate the tempo. Their century stand for the sixth wicket broke Australian resistance. The bowlers were tired, the new ball was losing its threat and frustration was setting in. Even when Starc hit Rahane on the handle late in the day, fortune stayed with him as another chance slipped away. In terms of stumps, India surged to 277 for 5 and the momentum shifted firmly. Rahane’s century wasn’t just technically sound; it was emotionally stabilizing. This gave faith to India when very little existed.Rahane’s stay ended with 112 off 223 balls the next morning, in unfortunate fashion – after a mix-up following Jadeja’s appeal. There was no visible frustration or anger. Instead, Rahane returned and gently patted Jadeja on the shoulder, a silent acknowledgment that such moments are part of the game. A week earlier in Adelaide, Rahane himself had been involved in Virat Kohli’s unfortunate outing, a moment that triggered India’s dramatic first-innings collapse. The perspective came easily to him. India eventually added a few more runs to reach 326, but by then the damage was already done for Australia.Australia’s second innings only deepened the change. India strangled their scoreline, conceding almost nothing. Australia were bowled out for 200 in 103.1 overs, their slowest home Test innings in decades. They didn’t manage a single half-century. R Ashwin closed out the match, Jasprit Bumrah provided the hostility and Mohammed Siraj continued his remarkable rise. India was chasing only 70.There were flashes of tension. Mayank Agarwal fell early. Pujara followed. Memories of 36 briefly hovered. But this was not Adelaide’s India. Shubman Gill batted with freedom and fittingly, it was Rahane who scored the winning runs. India went from humiliation to domination in the space of a week.That hundred in Melbourne did more than win a Test. This reset the tour. It restored confidence. This laid the foundation for what would become one of India’s greatest Test series victories. Quietly, without theatrics, Ajinkya Rahane played one of the most important innings in the history of Indian cricket.Rahane will forever remain an enigma in Indian cricket. Over the years he has competed in several exceptional rounds abroad, often in the most difficult conditions imaginable. He remains one of the few Indian batters whose away Test average is better than his record in India, a statistic which speaks volumes about his technique and temperament. Remarkably, India have never lost a Test match when Rahane has scored a century, and under his captaincy, the team remains undefeated in Test cricket.At the same time, his overall numbers never truly reflect the extent of his abilities. An average of 38.46 doesn’t really reflect the quality of a hitter who was successful when conditions were hostile and the margins were good. Rahane’s final home overs were particularly difficult, played on surfaces where batting was extremely difficult and excessive turns made scoring a constant struggle. These conditions did not affect him alone. The averages of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rahane and Virat Kohli all took a hit during this phase, largely because India were playing on wickets where survival itself was an achievement.Rahane played his last Test in 2023 against the West Indies. He had been recalled for the World Test Championship final earlier that year and responded by finishing as India’s top scorer in the match, with scores of 89 and 46 in the two innings. This performance briefly suggested a late-career revival.However, the subsequent tour to the West Indies proved disappointing. India played two Tests, but the runs were not held. Soon after, he was dropped from the Test side. Since then, Rahane has remained out of the national team and it seems very unlikely that he will represent India in Test cricket again.His career, like his personality, defied easy definition. Discreet, resilient and often underestimated, Rahane leaves behind a legacy that statistics alone cannot fully explain.
