The biggest reward for us has been the ability to bring a smile on the faces of Indian fans: Ajinkya Rahane

The Indian cricket team registered an 8-wicket victory against Australia in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in a stunning fashion. What made this win more memorable was that it came when the Indian team was without their three key players, skipper Virat Kohli and the pacers Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami.

The stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane was the wrecker-in-chief for the visiting nation as he led from the front by playing a sublime knock of 112 runs in the first innings at MCG to help his team post a mammoth total of 326. Rahane was also widely lauded for his leadership qualities as he wisely used his bowlers to dismiss the Australian batting line-up.

Overwhelmed with all the love and appreciation that the cricketer received for his spectacular performance both as a batsman and captain at MCG, Rahane took to his official Twitter handle to express his gratitude. In the note, the middle-order batsman also stated that his biggest achievement thus far has been bringing the smile on the faces of millions of Indian cricket fans back home.

“I would like to express my gratitude for all the love and support we’ve received. The biggest reward for us as a team has been the ability to bring a smile on the faces of all those Indians that follow the sport. We continue to seek your support and good wishes as we work hard for the next two matches,” Rahane wrote in a Twitter post.

Ajinkya Rahane won the Mullagh Medal at MCG

This was the second time that Ajinkya Rahane had scored a century at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, thus he got his name engraved on the MCG Honours Board for the second time after he hit a heroic knock in the first innings.

The 32-year-old also became the maiden recipient of the Mullagh Medal as he was adjudged the Player of the Match for the Boxing Day Test. The Boxing Day Test Player of the Match medal has been named in honour of trailblazing Indigenous cricketer Johnny Mullagh.

After their win at MCG, India has levelled the four-match Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia by 1-1. The two cricketing superpowers will now face each other in the third Test, starting from January 7 at Sydney Cricket Ground.