Team India had a good start on an original Day 1 of the World Test Championship final against New Zealand. The openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill had a 62 run partnership but soon Kiwis made a strong comeback by dismissing the opening duo and Indian dependable batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.
Virat Kohli alongside his deputy; Ajinkya Rahane carried forward the innings and finished at the score of 146/3 on original Day 1. Kohli scored unbeaten 44 and Rahane scored unbeaten 29 runs to finish the day.
Bad light plays spoilsport and that's stumps in Southampton!
India finish day two on 146/3 with Virat Kohli on 44* and Ajinkya Rahane keeping him company on 29*.#WTC21 Final | #INDvNZ | https://t.co/4vtSUyliQF pic.twitter.com/Xq9vD448Zk
— ICC (@ICC) June 19, 2021
While doing the review of Day 1 on his YouTube Channel in the series called “Betway Test of the Best “. Aakash Chopra applauded Rahane for scoring runs with full determination despite looking clumsy while batting against the Kiwi pace battery.
“Ajinkya Rahane’s start was not good. It seemed as though he was a little stuck. You are trying but the front foot is not moving. But that’s where Ajinkya Rahane impresses us all. It is not always that you have to score the pretty runs, at times you need to score the ugly runs. When you score the ugly runs and take the team forward, that’s what matters,” Chopra said.
The 43-year-old pinpointed that Ajinkya Rahane was not batting comfortably in the initial part of his innings which is completely understandable as he has not played competitive cricket for a while now.
“He can be fidgety because he is a one-format player. He played the last Test against England and after that neither the ODIs nor the T20Is and not too many matches in the IPL either,” he added.
Aakash Chopra added that the New Zealand team had the upper hand, the bowlers were looking in good touch and India was in trouble when Ajinkya Rahane came to bat at no. 5.
“It was such a long gap where he had not played a competitive match. Here when you come, you are the vice-captain and have more than 1000 runs in the World Test Championship but this is a new game and conditions. The opposition is bowling well and your team is at 88/3,” he added.
Ajinkya Rahane’s innings of unbeaten 29 off 79 deliveries including four boundaries helped India a lot to come out of the difficult situation, Rahane wasn’t at his best but still, he looked decent while batting.
Aakash Chopra on the importance of Captain & Vice-captain partnership
Aakash Chopra concluded the video by praising Indias No.4 and No. 5. India only has 5 batsmen with wicketkeeper-batsman and then All-Rounders Jadeja and Ashwin in the team. So, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane must take responsibility on their shoulders which they did very well.
“The resilience when both of them got together, especially when you are playing just five batsmen and don’t have Vihari. So five proper batsmen, then Pant and the two all-rounders, you need to contribute a little more. If 88/3 had become 104/4 and Pant had come at that point, the story would have looked different. So Ajinkya Rahane was very good,” the former opener continued.
Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli would love to carry on their 58 run partnership for the fourth wicket and score more runs for the team. So they can have a competitive total against the Blackcaps.
This is Outstanding, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane as pair in Test Cricket is Outstanding. – One of the Greatest Of All Time. #INDvsNZ pic.twitter.com/5P3OsYhY0l
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) June 20, 2021
