18 Facts on Ajinkya Rahane: Mr. Dependable of Indian cricket

Ajinkya Rahane is an international cricketer who represents India and is the vice-captain of the Test squad. He is one of the most athletic fielders in the side along with Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, and Virat Kohli. Rahane is a vital cog in the batting department in all formats of the game and has batted at different positions as the team requirement, which shows his flexibility as a cricketer.

1. Born on:

Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane was born on June 6, 1988, at Ashwi Khurd, a village in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, India.

2. Nickname:

Rahane is nick-named as Ajju, Jinx among his friends and teammates.

3. Family:

Apurva Rahane is his Sister and Shashank Rahane is his brother. Radhika Dhopavkar is his wife, whom he married in 2014 when she was aged 22.

4. Major Teams:

Apart from playing for India, he had also featured for India A, India Blue, India Emerging Players, India Under-19s, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals and Rising Pune Supergiants.

5. First-Class debut:

Rahane had a very rare First-Class debut in 2007, against Karachi Urban. This was for the Mohammad Nissar Trophy, a tournament contested between the domestic champions of India and Pakistan. Rahane opened the batting on debut at the National Stadium, Karachi and scored 143 runs.

6. Coached under Pravin Amre:

The former Indian cricketer, Pravin Amre was one of the technically sound batsmen in his heydays. Being coached under him, make Rahane a technically sound batsman.

7. The untold story:

It is said that, when he was 8 years old, he used to play at Dombivili in Mumbai. Once, a bowler who was thrice his age bowled him a bouncer which crashed at his helmet and little Rahane started to cry. Little later he got up and smashed the very same bowler for five boundaries in his next five balls.

This incident shows in intent, commitment and love for the game.

8. Under-15s and Under-19s:

Rahane represented India Under-15s in 2002, teammates included Piyush Chawla and TanmaySrivastava. At the same tournament, Angelo Mathews was featuring for Sri Lanka Under-15s.

In 2007, Rahane was a part of the India under-19 team that travelled to New Zealand. ViratKohli, Ravindra Jadeja, and Ishant Sharma were his teammates on that tour.

9. T20I debut with Rahul Dravid:

Rahane and Dravid made their T20I debut in the same match and Rahane smashed 61 off 39 balls to announce his arrival and Dravid with 3 consecutive sixes, scored 31 runs. They put up 65 for the second wicket. This was also Rahane’s first international debut.

10. When Rahane scores, India wins:

India has never lost a Test match when Rahane has scored a century, which makes him a vital part of the Indian squad.

11. 5th Indian to score centuries in both the innings of a Test:

During the fourth Test between India and South Africa at Delhi, scored centuries in both the innings of that match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on December 2015. He was also awarded Man of the match.

He is the fifth Indian to do so after Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Sunil Gavaskar and Vijay Hazare.

12. Ranji Trophy:

He had scored 1089 runs in his second Ranji season, which lead Mumbai to their 38^th title win. Only 11 players have crossed 1000 runs barrier in a single Ranji season.

13. Record for the most catches in a Test:

In August 2015, in a Test match against Sri Lanka at Galle, he took 8 catches to break the record of 7 catches in a Test match, which was held by Greg Chappell (Australia), Yuvurvindra Singh (India), Hashan Tillakaratne (Sri Lanka), Stephen Fleming (New Zealand) and Matthew Hayden (Australia).

14. Vital Knock at the 28-year long win at Lords:

He was in the forefront with a century at the Lords, to help his side win a Test match at Lords after 28 long years. He sets up the game with a solid 103 in the first innings.

15. CEAT Indian Cricketer of the year award:

With a lot of consistent performances in 2014-15, Rahane was awarded as the CEAT Indian Cricketer of the year quite unanimously.

16. Six Fours:

Everyone remember about the six sixes from Yuvraj Singh in the World Twenty20 Cup 2007. But, have you heard about six fours in an over? Rahane is the first batsman to hit six fours in an over in a T20 match. Sreenath Arvind of Royal Challengers Bangalore was at the receiving end of an IPL match in 2012.

17. Black Belt:

Rahane is known for his solid batting and acrobatic fielding has also got a black belt(in Karate) to his name.

18. Personal Dream:

Rahane’s dream is to own a Lamborghini and an Aston Martin.