CHENNAI: A little over three years after his last India appearance, former captain Ajinjkya Rahane has decided to call it a day on his international career. The 38-year-old, much like his contemporaries, took to social media to announce it through a video message.
"The reality of life is that everything has a beginning, and everything has an end. I always relied on timing in my batting, and I've always understood it's important," Rahane said in a video message on his Instagram account. "Today, I feel the timing is right for me to move on and announce my requirement from international cricket, and all formats," he added in the clip that was captioned 'Cap number 278, signing off'.
Throughout a Test career that lasted a decade, Rahane represented India in 85 matches scoring 5077 at 38.46 average and 49.50 strike rate — including 12 hundreds and 26 half-centuries. He also played 90 ODIs and 20 T20Is for India.
Though Rahane's announcement comes as no surprise, the Mumbaikar becomes one of the last few from his generation of Test cricketers — who paved the way for India's domination in the longest format through 2010s — to make his retirement official. With the likes of Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay and a few others, Rahane played a significant part in carrying forward the legacy of India's Test batting, especially overseas in the post-Sachin Tendulkar era.
Through the time he was a part of the Test team, India dominated the longest format with the highest win-loss ratio of 2.037, winning 55 and losing 27 of the 101 matches played between Rahane's first and last Test for the country. With Kohli, he formed a formidable middle-order that consistently delivered both at home and abroad till the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy win Down Under.
The numbers, as exemplary as they could be before it took a dive post pandemic, do not sum up the significance of Rahane in Indian cricket. The Mumbaikar, who rose from the humble beginnings of Dombivli, was India's crisis man. And his legacy will always be about rising to the occasion when in crisis, doing what the team needed of him and then some.
Whether it is the South Africa tour of 2014 where he pipped Rohit or the Lord's century or the twin centuries at home against SA or his performance Down Under, when push came to shove, Rahane stepped up. There is no better example than the century in the 2020 Boxing Day Test after the 36 all out in Adelaide to lead a Kohli-less and injury-ridden India to a historic 2-1 win at The Gabba.
The quiet, unassuming man, much like Pujara, was perhaps one of the few modern cricketers who resembled the old guard. A traditionalist in his technique, he adapted to the modern white-ball game, Rahane remained an ardent student of the game even when he was a captain; someone who always ensured the sport is played in the right spirit. So much so that he was never afraid to pull up a youngster in the team on the field if it came to it.
One such example came in the Duleep Trophy final in Coimbatore between South and West Zone four years ago. The now Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal came under the scanner for getting into a verbal fight with the South Zone batters while fielding as a close-in catcher. At one point, Rahane, the West Zone captain, pulled him up and sent him off the field. “Certain things you have to follow on the field. There are authorities and umpires, they have the power. They control the game, you should give respect to them. The opposition is also here to play. So, you should respect them and play the game in a dignified manner,” Rahane told this reporter, and a few others at the venue, later that day.
That, in essence, sums up how Rahane approached his cricketing career. A dignified ambassador of the game who served to the best of his abilities as long as India needed him. And for that, Indian cricket will always remain grateful.
