India vs England: Ajinkya Rahane briefly meditates on the field on Day 1; picture goes viral

Over the years, one has heard several batsmen revealing their superstitions or unique practices before they went out to bat. Whether it was Steve Waugh keeping a red rag in his pocket, Sachin Tendulkar putting on his left pad before the right one or Sourav Ganguly keeping a photo of his guru inside his pocket, batsmen over the years came up with different practices to ensure that they get success with the bat.

Well, Ajinkya Rahane is not an exception either. Unlike some batsmen, Rahane’s practice is not a superstition but the India Test vice-captain makes sure to do it every time before he goes out to bat. And the practice that he follows is a short meditation. Before going out to bat or resuming his innings after a break, the right-handed batsman makes sure to meditate for a while which must be helping him to focus more on his batting.

Cricket journalist Bharat Sundaresan shared the interesting piece of information on Saturday when Rahane was busy batting on day one of the ongoing second Test against England at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium. He shared a couple of pictures from the ongoing game where Rahane could be seen meditating. In the first picture, he is seen with his eyes closed while standing on the pitch while in the second photo, he is seen meditating while sitting on the stairs of the ground before coming out to bat.

It’s a common occurrence before and during a Ajinkya Rahane knock. Him in a brief state of deep meditation #IndvEng pic.twitter.com/pmLnyFsbGm

— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) February 13, 2021

Meditation works for Ajinkya Rahane as India recover after a shaky start

The meditation seems to have worked in the ongoing game as Rahane crossed the 50-run mark after seven innings in the Tests. His last fifty-plus score had come in December when he had scored the stunning ton against Australia in the Boxing Day Test at the MCG. He eventually got out for 67 runs.

India lost three big wickets inside the first session and were reeling at 86 for 3 when Rahane joined Rohit in the middle. Since then, the two have kept the England bowlers at bay. The partnership was finally broken by Jack Leach when Rohit was on 161.