West Indies vs India 2017: Ajinkya Rahane’s Fourth Consecutive Fifty Helps Him Enter Record Books

Dec 31, 2018 at 1:56 PM

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West Indies vs India 2017: Ajinkya Rahane’s Fourth Consecutive Fifty Helps Him Enter Record Books

The Story:

Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane is relishing the opportunity of playing as an opener in the team. He seems to have found the perfect rhythm and has been consistently hitting appreciable knocks in the ongoing limited overs series against West Indies.

The Mumbai batsman has had a tough time facing off competition from his teammates Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul for a place in the opening slot. At the same time, skipper Virat Kohli has been spoilt for an option in the presence of such high-quality line-up and the only way he can accommodate all of those names as openers is through a rotation.

Read More: (Sourav Ganguly says Ajinkya Rahane’s role should be defined)

Rahane, however, has ended being the least favoured option considering his technique driven approach which means that he is slower in terms of run making than his counterparts. But, the 29-year-old has always proved his ability whenever given an opportunity.

Rich Vein Of Form

Rahane has taken up the role of run accumulator in this series in the absence of Rohit Sharma. He has so far scored fifty-plus scores in all the four ODIs. His scores read – 62, 103, 72 and 60.

Image Courtesy: AFP

This sublime form has now got him a place in the league of Indian batsmen who have four consecutive fifty-plus scores. The list is led by Sachin Tendulkar and includes the likes of Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Mohammad Azharuddin, Suresh Raina and Sourav Ganguly.

Read More: (Captain Virat Kohli says, team needs to do something before final One-Day)

Tendulkar achieved the feat twice in 1996 and 2003, Azharuddin did it in 1990 and 1993, Ganguly in 2002, Kohli in 2010, Dhoni in 2011 and Raina in 2013. Rahul Dravid, Tendulkar and Kohli, with five successive fifties in ODIs, hold the record for the most number of consecutive fifties for India.

Previous Knock-In Vain

Rahane’s most recent fifty, unfortunately, went in vain, as West Indies stunned India by defending 190 and winning the match by 11 runs. Rahane top-scored for India with 60 off 91 balls but other failed to get going. India was on the verge of winninng the series after being 2-0 up after three games.

However, the visitors, led by skipper Jason Holder, pulled off a stunning effort and have now taken the series decider to the last game which will be played in Jamaica on July 6.

“I would like to thank Virat (Kohli) and team management that they gave me this opportunity to bat at the top of the order. When I was in England, I really worked hard on my fitness and I am happy all that hard work is paying off here,” Rahane told ANI last week.

Also Read: (Five slowest fifties by an Indian batsman in ODI’s)

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