Ajinkya Rahane steals the show in New Zealand, talks in Marathi with a journalist about 'Poha and Coffee'
Rahane hit an unbeaten 101 for India ‘A’ against New Zealand ‘A’ in Lincoln earlier this month though could not manage more than 18 in the three-day practice match.
India will take on New Zealand in the first match of the two-Test series at Basin Reserve, Wellington, starting Friday. Virat Kohli’s men won the T20I series 5-0 but lost the ODI series that followed 0-3. The team has been hit by injury concerns and the responsibility now lies on some young shoulders to see it through in the long format. India will nevertheless start as the favourites as they have won all seven of their games played so far in the ICC Test Championship while the Kiwis are lagging at the sixth position in the points table with a single win.
As the focus shifts on India’s Test side, vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane made the headlines. The 31-year-old, who played for India last in November (Bangladesh series) was seen getting ready for a press conference in a video that surfaced on Twitter and he was seen talking in his mother tongue, which is Marathi, with another journalist who is also responding in the same.
Rahane was seen praising New Zealand’s scenic beauty and sparing some kind words for a lake in Queenstown, the ace batsman brought in some India connection by saying it can be enjoyed even more with a cup of coffee and ‘poha’, a popular Maharashtrian food.
Ajinkya Rahane made 101 not out against New Zealand A recently
Rahane hit an unbeaten 101 for India ‘A’ against New Zealand ‘A’ in Lincoln earlier this month though could not manage more than 18 in the three-day practice match against New Zealand XI in Hamilton as preparation for the Test series. These are the games that the Mumbai batsman has featured in as part of his conditioning for the windy conditions in New Zealand that would pose a challenge to the Indian batting line-up.
Rahane has made 4,112 runs in 63 Tests and averages 54 in New Zealand with one hundred in the two matches he has played there.
India, however, have won only two Test series in New Zealand in history although they have toured that country nine times. While MAK Pataudi led them to win a series 3-1 in 1967-68, Mahendra Singh Dhoni captained them to a 1-0 win in 2008-09. The first Test will begin at 4 am IST on Friday.
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