Thank you, Ajinkya Rahane!

[Majestic]

The time has come to honour one of our finest overseas batsman of all-time. What an inspiration and a role model he has been to all the fans around the world. He is a testament of the fact that nice guys don't finish last.

 

Given that this is a tribute thread, let us pen down some of the greatest performances that Ajinkya Rahane has produced for us over the past decade.

 

1. Melbourne 2020 -  One of the greatest knocks by a test captain in the history of any sport ever. A perfect David-Goliath story. After the 36 all-out humiliation, the media and the fans all over the cricket world were making fun of the Indian team and the Australian ex-cricketers were rubbing on the loss, already dreaming about 4-0 whitewash. The Captain King also left his team in the muddle and came back to India. Amidst all the criticism and disaster, leader and captain Rahane stood up like a rock, like fire from inside and ice from outside and smashed an unbelievable test hundred, helping his team win the test match and achieving what looked impossible just a few days ago.

 

2. Lords 2014 - On a track which was so green which made it difficult to differentiate it from the lush field, that too against an England bowling unit comprising of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, every Indian batsman struggled to get going, barring the great Rahane who stood tall, and scored 103 to propel India to a good total in the first innings which ultimately helped India achieve a historic victory at Lords. The quality of the knock is too notch.

 

Although he has played many great knocks in his career, but for now I will leave it to these two. Assuming that he has already played his career last test, let us put down the appreciation words for him in our own way.

 

All hail the greatest vice captain. Thanks!

Edited September 9, 2021 by Majestic

[Forever Indian]

He was our best batsman in SENA for a few years but last 3 years or so he has totally lost it. Served us well for those few years, but the time has come now!

[sage]

Thank you and goodbye. 

[asterix]

I wishes were horses….

[Lone Wolf]

Rahane will be the greatest Asian Captain of all time..  He never tasted Defeat...  And tamed Aussie sides on a rampage in Dharamsala MCG Sydney & breached Gabba. 

He should be celebrated like War Hero.  Salute to the legend.  Best wishes for the Future Mr VIP

[deepdynamo]

I wish he signed off with 5k test runs with average of 40+.

 

But now after horrific two years, he may not achieve either of those.

 

Almost same like M Vijay who also ended with sub 40 average.

[Majestic]

1 hour ago, Lone Wolf said:

Rahane will be the greatest Asian Captain of all time..  He never tasted Defeat...  And tamed Aussie sides on a rampage in Dharamsala MCG Sydney & breached Gabba. 

He should be celebrated like War Hero.  Salute to the legend.  Best wishes for the Future Mr VIP

Undeniably. Many vice captains have come and gone but there will be none like Rahane.

 

After the Adelaide humiliation, Australian ex-cricketers and analysts were not discussing, "who will win the series" but instead discussing whether India will save a whitewash. 

 

Michael Clarke even went to the limits saying that beating India without Kohli won't be the same. We should have preponed the test series and play it before LOIs in presence of kohli.

 

All their dreams and expectations were shattered since the day Ajinkya Rahane stepped on the field as leader of the team. It was a boxing day and he did fought like a Muhammad Ali with an airtight rock solid defense.

 

 

[Lone Wolf]

5 minutes ago, Majestic said:

Undeniably. Many vice captains have come and gone but there will be none like Rahane.

 

After the Adelaide humiliation, Australian ex-cricketers and analysts were not discussing, "who will win the series" but instead discussing whether India will save a whitewash. 

 

Michael Clarke even went to the limits saying that beating India without Kohli won't be the same. We should have preponed the test series and play it before LOIs in presence of kohli.

 

All their dreams and expectations were shattered since the day Ajinkya Rahane stepped on the field as leader of the team. It was a boxing day and he did fought like a Muhammad Ali with an airtight rock solid defense.

 

 

 Mr VIP Rahane has some other rare distinctions that will never be matched attached to his GOAT CV

Ajinkya Rahane became the first recipient of the prestigious Mullagh Medal after India beat Australia by 8 wickets in the second Test match in Melbourne to level the four-match series 1-1 

[Lord]

our best captain

 

What he did in Aus is unprecented

[Majestic]

A true icon of the game. The man who led us to arguably our greatest away test series win of all-time. He will dearly be missed from next test onwards as we conclude his remarkable test career.

Edited September 9, 2021 by Majestic

[G_B_]

History will be kinder to Rahane...

 

Is at the end of the road career wise. But i think if we eliminate recency bias has played some crucial innings overseas which not many indian batters can claim to do so.

[Jay]

GOAT captain. Mediocre towards the end as a player. Good in his prime. 

[neel roy]

His best test knock to me was in Melbourne 2014. He brough mitchell johnson to his knees. Actually mitchell johnson lost his mojo after melbourne with the kind of assault kohli and rahane orchestrated on him..Melbourne 2020/21 he gave 5 proper chances.. last catch Head dropped was a soda..

[BacktoCricaddict]

Good OP and thread.  Rahane, in his early days, batted elegantly and went about his business with a lot of humility and no fanfare.  Yeah, people complained about his "body language" and such, but the same calm, collected body language brought success to the team when he led them in multiple difficult conditions.  Let us not forget that the most memorable victories for Indian cricket came under his watch.  I wish public wouldn't let their recency bias cloud their overall judgment of the guy. 

 

Is he an ATG?  No, of course not. 

Was he a good, solid test batsman for the first 2/3 of his career?  For sure. 

Was he a great captain?  From the limited sample size, absolutely yes.  

Would he have succeeded as a long-term captain?  We'll never know. 

Is he worthy of fan appreciation? Definitely. 

Is he worthy of fan-hatred and derision?  Absolutely not.

 

He seems to be a stand-up, decent guy whose heart is in the right place; he seems to have a way of propping up others and letting them shine.  For that alone, I tip my hat to him.    

[Lord]

One of those guys you feel bad for when they are going thru a bad patch.Pujara is another.

 

 

[NameGoesHere]

History will definitely br kind to him but oh lord, can history be kind to him asap?

 

Put another way, waiting to remember his career with fond nostalgia. 

[cricketfan28]

More rahanes coming soon.

[mani sha]

Think he has a second wind left . He will get through this 

[R!TTER]

13 hours ago, Majestic said:

A true icon of the game. The man who led us to arguably our greatest away test series win of all-time. He will dearly be missed from next test onwards as we conclude his remarkable test career.

Plagiarism 

 

[kepler37b]

Need a similiar thread for the clown.