Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting heaped praise on comeback man Ajinkya Rahane for making full use of the opportunity given to him in the World Test Championship final against Australia. The Indian veteran batter made a return to the team after 18 long months, where he is the highest run-getter with 89 runs in the 1st innings.
In the 1st innings, Rahane looked in excellent touch but had to go back after Lunch for 89 runs just falling short of a well-deserved century by 11 runs, as the Australian all-rounder Cameron Green took a blinder in the gully to dismiss the well-settled Indian batter.
Speaking on the ICC, Ricky Ponting hailed Ajinkya Rahane for his brilliant performance in his international comeback game and feels that the Mumbai batter has prolonged his career by a couple of years in the longer format of the game and said that Rahane is one of the discipline cricketers in the world, having worked with him during his stint with Delhi Capitals.
“He has made the most of his opportunity and that is all you can do, I think there are two more Test matches in the West Indies after this before Rahul and Iyer are back, so he has got a real opportunity to prolong his Test career for another couple of years.”
“He is a lovely guy and a mild-mannered guy and someone who is one of the most disciplined cricketers I have ever worked with, He is always the first one at training and he is always the first one at the gym doing his recovery and rehab,” Ricky Ponting said.
The 35-year-old batter has undoubtedly been the best overseas batter for the Indian side over the years and would like to do well for the men in blue if provided an opportunity in the future series. Ajinkya Rahane has also guided India to a 2-1 win during the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a young team in Australia.
He Got Into This Indian Team On The Back Of Some Performances In The IPL – Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting said that he was really to see Ajinkya Rahane coming and playing such a good knock in a high-pressure game against the well-equipped Australian bowling unit also questioned his exclusion from the team over the last couple of years and added that his T20 form with Chennai Super Kings has probably got him back to the Indian setup.
“I am really happy to see him back out there and playing and when you see him play like that (against Australia) you just wonder why he hasn’t been in this India team for the last couple of years.
“Isn’t it amazing how in this modern game? He probably got back into this Indian Test team on the back of some performances in the IPL, so well played to him,” Ricky Ponting added.
Ajinkya Rahane has been the redemption of the IPL, as he found his way into the Indian team following his exploits for the MS Dhoni-led side in the IPL. The Indian veteran has scored 326 runs in 11 innings he played, most importantly at an impressive strike rate of 172.48.