Ajinkya Rahane Breaks Jinx With First Test Ton on Home Soil
Ajinkya Rahane became the first batsman to reach three figures in this series as he scored his first century at home and his fifth overall on day two of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Feroz Shah Kotla.
Ajinkya Rahane finally made up for his dismal home record when he struck his maiden Test hundred in India on Day 2 of the fourth Test against South Africa.(Scorecard | Blog)
Resuming on an overnight score of 89 not out, Rahane brought up his fifth Test century off 180 balls on Friday. His innings was punctuated by 10 fours and 2 sixes.
It was a relief to many, as despite Rahane's superb record in domestic cricket and the Indian Premier League, he had nothing to write home about as far as his record in India is concerned.
The right-hand Mumbai batsman inexplicably averaged just 7.83 at home with his highest score being 15 in Mohali, before the start of the Delhi Test.
Rahane came into bat with India in spot of bother at 66/3.
With the odds stacked against him, Rahane finally broke his embarrassing jinx by reaching his maiden fifty at home. He enjoyed a slice of luck on 78 when Hashim Amla spilled a sitter at slips off Dane Piedt.
Rahane's unbeaten knock at stumps also turned out to be the highest individual score by any batsman in the ongoing series with the previous best being 85 by AB de Villiers in the rain-hit second Test at Bengaluru. He is now the first player from either side to score a century in the series.
The 27-year-old started cautiously and played second fiddle at the start of his innings in the 70-run stand with skipper Kohli. He changed gears as wickets fell around him and in his crucial 59-run partnership with Ravindra Jadeja, Rahane took the attack to the bowlers.
On Thursday, Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for the Mumbai batsman, saying that his innings was the result of staying at the crease and being patient.
"Patience is key to scoring runs. Just like Rahane did today. These pitches are difficult but not impossible to score runs on," Gavaskar told NDTV in an exclusive chat. The former Test opener added Rahane's approach and to play "within his range" helped him overcome the initial pressure.
Rahane eventually fell for 127, after having added 98 runs for the 8th wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin with the score on 296/8. Ashwin got to 56 as the hosts ended their innings on 334. Dean Elgar took five wickets while Dane Piedt took four.