Ajinkya Rahane spills an absolute dolly in the slip cordon

Virat and Rahane looked at each other, comprehending what had just happened.

Published - 01 Aug 2018, 17:17 IST | Updated - 01 Aug 2018, 17:17 IST

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Ajinkya Rahane’s time in the last few months hasn’t been joyous by any means. After a disappointing stint with the willow in the IPL, he was left out of the Indian limited-overs teams that played series’ against Ireland and England respectively. However, he got a much-needed breather when the 30-year-old was drafted into the Indian squad for the first three Tests against England.

He played the warm-up match against Essex at County Ground in Chelmsford, but couldn’t come into his own with the bat. He was named in the playing eleven by Virat Kohli, but he was expected to be nervous prior to the start of the opening Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham. His edginess was also evident in the field of play when he was given the mantle to patrol the slip cordon.

Rahane comes in way of Kohli

Keaton Jennings, who initially replaced Mark Stoneman in the lineup, opened the batting with Alistair Cook. The left-hander made a nervous start to his knock and Ishant Sharma almost pinned him with an absolute corker. The speedster churned out a back-of-a-length delivery in the sixth over that shaped away from the opening batsman. Moreover, the delivery squared the batsman up.

He made a tentative push at the leather and was in no position whatsoever to stave off the delivery. The ball jagged a tad off the wicket and took Jennings’ outside-edge. The leather raced away towards Kohli, who was standing at third slip, wasn’t required to do a whole lot to grasp the catch. Nevertheless, Rahane dived on to his right in order to take the catch.

Unfortunately, the ball didn’t stick in his palms, much to the disappointment of Rahane and the Indian team. After the dropped chance, proceedings came to a standstill for a moment as Virat and Rahane looked at each other, comprehending what had just panned out. In the meantime, the South African-born must have breathed a sigh of relief as he got a lifeline at the score of nine.