Ajinkya Rahane - From the promised prince to the unwanted baggage

Ajinkya Rahane - the mastermind behind the iconic Gabba heist, was a cherry on top of an incredible, come-from-behind kind of a series victory for India in Australia last year.

In January 2021, the stand-in Indian captain looked invincible. It seemed as if he had reaffirmed his spot in the team and fans’ minds alike and had finally come out of a dry run as a batter.

A year into the future, in February 2022, it has been extremely difficult to find an Indian cricket fan with some support or sympathy for Ajinkya Rahane. The year that passed between the highs of Brisbane 2021 and the lows of Cape Town 2022 was incredible for Team India and disastrous for Rahane.

After repetitive failures on both home and away tours, the long rope finally saw its end. Ajinkya Rahane has been dropped for the home Test series against Sri Lanka.

So what exactly led to this? Let's take a dive into the last nine years of his career.

Ajinkya Rahane on the rise

It was March 2013 when India played the Australian team at home. The fourth Test match in Delhi marked the debut of a youngster who had spent the best part of the two preceding years on the bench waiting for his chance.

Ajinkya Rahane, a stylish batter from Mumbai with a great first-class record, failed horribly in both innings, albeit on a difficult surface in his debut Test match. It seemed he had wasted a chance to stamp his authority when it was hard to get into the Indian cricket team.

The next Test assignment for Team India was Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series. Rohit Sharma, another gifted batter from Mumbai, grabbed the opportunity with both hands by hitting two centuries in his first two matches.

Ajinkya Rahane heads back to the pavilion • Mar 24, 2013 © BCCI - ESPN cricinfo

Things were about to take off as Team India went to the unconquered shores of South Africa. Indian skipper MS Dhoni decided to go with six specialist batters and that opened the door for Ajinkya Rahane at No. 6.

With Rohit slotted at No. 5, it was a virtual competition between him and Ajinkya for the middle-order spot and this time it was Rahane who managed to grab it with both hands. The fighting scores of 47, 51 and 96* in the series sealed Rahane’s spot for the tour of New Zealand in early 2014, where he secured his maiden Test century in Wellington.

Ajinkya Rahane after his maiden Test century in Wellington • Feb 15, 2014 © AFP - ESPN cricinfo

England was the next destination for Team India and Rahane pretty much blew hot and cold in the English summer. However, that eloquent knock of 103 runs on one of the greenest pastures at Lord’s straight up launched him into folklore.

It was an innings that would save his team from a collapse on the first day and lead to an eventual victory. It was also an innings that would come to his rescue many times in the future.

At the end of 2014, India traveled Down Under for a long tour of Australia that started with the four-Test series and ended with the 2015 World Cup. From Rahane’s point of view, this tour was absolutely crucial as this was his chance to find a permanent place in the team across formats and he did exactly that.

He finished the Test series with 399 runs at an average of 57, with scores of 62 in Adelaide, 81 in Brisbane and a magnificent, counterattacking 147 off 171 balls at the MCG.

Ajinkya Rahane with an aggressive intent to score • Dec 28, 2014 © Getty Images - ESPN cricinfo

After India's away tour cycle of 2014-15 ended, it was the trio of Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane who emerged as the best players to perform in tough conditions.

The next stop was a one-off Test in Bangladesh. Rahane scored an almost run-a-ball 98 before getting caught in front of the stumps in an effort to score quick runs before the declaration. Being a valiant team man, Rahane was happy to sacrifice his wicket for his team’s cause even if that denied him a century.

Ajinkya Rahane's stature grew in the Indian middle order as he was scoring at least one 90+ score in every series he played. Suddenly, Ajinkya Rahane was the crisis man for Team India.

The alien conditions of South Africa, New Zealand and West Indies skyrocketed the value of his runs as India found a batter with a rare skillset to score away from home.

With the big home season looming, it was time for India to score so-called “easy” runs at home to stamp their authority. South Africa’s tour of India in 2015 was marked by vicious turners where the ball was doing some unreal magic off the pitch.

For Rahane the batter, the first three Test matches were disastrous and must have reminded him of the horrors of his Test debut as he struggled to time the ball well on the classic Indian pitches.

In the fourth Test of the series, he responded with centuries in both innings and with that, all the noise just disappeared and peace was restored. Rahane enjoyed some more home success in 2016 where he put up his highest-ever Test score of 188 in Indore against New Zealand. His Test average then crossed 50 for the first and only time ever in his career.

Ajinkya Rahane during his 188 vs New Zealand • Oct 09, 2016 © BCCI - ESPN cricinfo

Beginning of the downfall

It was somewhere at that point after the New Zealand series that something had started to go off for Rahane as the next home summer saw him struggle for runs. He managed only two half centuries across three series against England, Bangladesh and Australia.

At the end of 2017, Sri Lanka toured India for three Tests and that marked arguably the worst phase of Rahane’s Test career. The scores read 4, 0, 2, 1, and 10 in the three matches. It looked as if he was coming on to the pitch having already been dismissed in his mind.

As a result, Rahane was dropped from the playing XI for the first two games in South Africa. He eventually got his place back in the last match of the series in early 2018. The 33-year-old scored a vital 48 on a tough pitch which led India to a memorable victory in Johannesburg.

The rest of 2018 witnessed moderate success for him as he struggled to convert solid starts and ended up with a few half-centuries in England and Australia.

Ajinkya Rahane - Rising up and above • Jan 26, 2018 © BCCI - ESPN cricinfo

Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane rose up the ranks of Indian cricket to become the Test vice-captain irrespective of his inconsistent batting form. He started gaining quite a reputation in whatever opportunity he got in the absence of Virat Kohli.

However, something was missing from his batting that he seemed to have mastered in the golden period of 2014-15.

In 2019, with the introduction of the World Test Championship, the vice-captain struck form again. Rahane saw himself at the top of the batting charts for his team in the first WTC cycle, having notched a few centuries against the Windies and the Proteas.

The returns were not great but were enough to make him the most prolific Indian batter of the season as his teammates weren't enjoying much success in batting.

Leading from the front - Ajinkya Rahane as the captain © AFP

The story now goes ahead to 2021. Rahane was visibly struggling in both the home and away conditions.

The WTC final in Southampton was a classic example of his downfall. He crafted his way into the 40s with a little discomfort before failing to a short ball on 49. Neil Wagner had placed a fielder for a mistimed pull shot. Rahane duly obliged and took the bait to literally manufacture a catch for that fielder.

Ajinkya Rahane exhibiting a pull shot • Jun 23, 2021 © Getty Images - ESPN cricinfo

The subsequent Test series in England and South Africa established the same pattern where the Indian vice-captain was easily getting lured into committing the same mistakes and kept getting out.

Team India badly needs the Ajinkya Rahane of yore, who was confident and was willing to take on the bowlers with an aggressive mindset.

A future full of hope

After a swashbuckling start, his career is now halted at an all-time low. In the first 29 Test matches, Rahane was riding high with 2209 runs at an amazing average of 51.37 - a career high.

Since then, he has played 53 more Tests and scored 2722 runs at a poor average of 32.02. These are extremely poor numbers for a pure batter and it shows the level of trust the team management has had in him so far.

The 33-year-old needs to grind it out in the Ranji Trophy and/or county cricket to regain his confidence. He has tasted a lot of success whenever he opted for an attacking mindset and intent to strike rather than occupy the crease.

It's high time Rahane brought out the free-flowing and sublime artist that he once was. Indian cricket fans will eagerly wait to see him back in action just like before.