SA vs IND 2018: Sourav Ganguly Suggests Ajinkya Rahane's Knock at Par with Virat Kohli's

Former India captain and current President of CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal), Sourav Ganguly, affirmed that Ajinkya Rahane’s knock of 79 was as good as Virat Kohli’s 112, which steered India towards a win in the first ODI at Kingsmead, Durban.

Jinx came in with India in a spot of bother with 67 on the board with the openers back in the hut. Rahane, along with captain Kohli, stitched a matchwinning partnership of 189 runs off 182 balls, to take the game away from the host.

The Rahane inning was one worth noticing, as he has been favourite for the Indian management to face the axe in the playing XI in all formats of the game. The Mumbai batsman got dropped in the first two Tests in Cape Town and Centurion, conditions where he thrives in, boasting an average of above 55 in overseas Test.

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Also, Jinx was illogically removed from the middle order in ODIs a season back and slotted in as the standby opener to Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. It created a hole in the number four position which was still uncemented before the series.

“I am extremely happy to see the way Ajinkya Rahane and Bhuvneshwar Kumar stamped their authority once again. They are invaluable to this team. Rahane’s performance was not a surprise because he is a class act,” commented Sourav Ganguly according to TOI.

Ganguly stressed on the fact that Rahane should learn the art of conversion of half-centuries into centuries from his skipper Virat Kohli. Interestingly, his last five innings at the number four positions consist of four half-centuries.

“Along with his quality as a batsman, what he needs to learn from his skipper is how to get a hundred. Maybe a dinner together will help! His knock of 79 in the first ODI was as good as Virat’s, but the difference is that Virat very rarely misses out on a ton once he is set,” added Dada.

After losing the first two matches of the South African tour by huge margins, the Indian team displayed an immense character to win the final Test match at Jo’burg handsomely, thereby, avoiding a possible whitewash, and taking the lead in the six-match ODI series in Durban.

“The last ten days in South Africa have been brilliant for the Indians, led by an exceptional Virat Kohli. It just goes to show, as it has in the past, that the Indian team gets better after spending some time in overseas conditions,” concluded Sourav Ganguly.

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