Team India staged a massive come-from-behind fightback as they beat the Australian side 2-1 after facing a humiliating defeat in the first match
Not just for India, there was one man, who also witnessed resurgence personally as the four match Border-Gavaskar series against Australia went on. Down in the series 1-0, without the regular skipper, pressure of getting him run-out and he had to lead that Indian side on the Boxing Day at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), how do you put aside all of this? Smash a century lead you side to victory at the MCG! That's Ajinkya Rahane for you.
But it wasn't easy for the man, who played a huge role in India's historic series win against the Aussies on their home soil. The stand-in captain emerged as a leader of a depleted group, who just wanted to perform for their country at the highest level.
Rahane, before seeing all this was involved in a horrible mix-up with Virat Kohli on the first day of the Adelaide Test, that resulted in Kohli getting run-out when he was batting on 74. Rahane was visibly distraught and it affected his mindset as well.
Talking to the Hindustan Times about how he felt after the mix-up, Rahane said, "Was really blank when that run out happened. I knew we were both going really well, and if we had continued…they were on the back-foot. I felt bad. Once I went in, I told sorry to Virat and he was fine. He was like “it's ok, lets focus on how we could get better from here”."
India were in a strong position, however, that run-out triggered a collapse as India got all out on 244 after they were at 188-4 at one point.
After which, it was just one hour of madness which cost them the game, according to him. But, Rahane admitted that they had to come back from that and had to do it without Kohli.
Since, this time he knew he was going to lead the side in three out of four games, he had his plans in mind from the practice games and he knew what he wanted to do, how to use certain players, field settings, etc. According to him, he is an instinctive captain and he was clear in his head about what he had to do.
The mindset showed in his first innings after the Adelaide debacle at the MCG. According to him, the MCG century was his best ever, considering the circumstances and the situation the team was in. Rahane said that he was in that zone, after India lost three early wickets, there was pressure on him, so he just wanted to feel that pressure, take it upon him to score and just keep going.
Rahane's 112 helped India get a 131-run lead and won the game by 8 wickets after bowling out Australia for 200 in their second innings. India not just answered their critics but also levelled the series 1-1 going into the last two Tests.
India played a fighting draw at the SCG and won the final game at the Gabba, to complete an odd-defying victory, beating Aussies in their own backyard.
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 "Ajinkya Rahane")
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