Ajinkya Rahane, India's 'Most Complete', Bats His Way Into Record Books
Ajinkya Rahane became the first Indian batsman to record a hundred in each innings of a Test match against South Africa.
In a low-scoring series between India and South Africa in which no other batman has managed to hit even a single century, Ajinkya Rahane scored two in the fourth and final Test at the Feroz Shah Kotla to write himself into the record books. (Ajinkya Rahane 'Most Complete Indian Player', Record Better Than Virat Kohli: Sunil Gavaskar)
On Sunday, Rahane took 206 balls to bring up his second of the match and the sixth of his Test career with the help of eight boundaries and three sixes. His century on Day 5 came after he made 127 in the first innings against the Proteas. (Centurion Ajinkya Rahane's Secret to Success - 'Determination And Patience')
Rahane became the first Indian batsman to record a hundred in each innings of a Test match against South Africa. (Suresh Raina Demoted in New Contract by BCCI, Ajinkya Rahane Upgraded)
In Elite Club of Centurions
In all, he is the fifth Indian batsman to post a century in each innings of a Test match, joining Sunil Gavaskar (3 times); Rahul Dravid (twice); Vijay Hazare (once), Virat Kohli (once).
Besides the more obvious stats, Rahane also came close or equalled some other records set by Indians. So, it came as no surprise when former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for the Mumbai batsman.
" Rahane is currently the most complete Test batsman in the team. He is brilliant both in attacking and defending. He has done well everywhere, in all the conditions whereas Virat Kohli struggled in England," Gavaskar told NDTV.
More Rahane Records
Rahane hit four sixes during his 127 in the first innings and three in the course of his unbeaten 100 in the second to become the second Indian batsman after Harbhajan Singh to record at least three sixes in each innings of a Test match.
Seven sixes posted by Rahane in the Delhi Test is the joint second highest by an Indian batsman in a Test match behind the eight by Navjot Singh Sidhu during his innings of 124 against Sri Lanka at Lucknow in January 1994.
Besides Rahane and Sidhu, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan have hit seven sixes in a Test match.
Rahane scored a total of 227 runs - the highest tally in a Test match by him, eclipsing his previous best of 195 (147, 48) against Australia at Melbourne in December 2014.
With 266 runs at an average of 53.20, Rahane is the leading run-getter in the series. He is the only one to register two hundreds in the present series. No other batsman has recorded even one.
He also became the first Indian batsman to post three Test centuries this year.
(With inputs from PTI)