Ajinkya Rahane scored a hundred on his return to Ranji Trophy as he led Mumbai’s fightback against defending champions Saurashtra on Day 1 of their Group D opener at the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad. He played 212 balls to score his 36th first-class ton.
He hit a big six on the bowling of t left-arm spinner Dharmandrasinh Jadeja to reach 99. When he completed his century, his batting partner Sarfaraz Khan also punched in the air. The conditions were not easy for batting, but Rahane showed his class to counter the rival bowlers.
Prithvi Shaw (1), Akash Gomel (8), and Sachin Yadav (19) were dismissed cheaply with just 44 on the board. However, Rahane and Sarfaraz played smartly to bail out the team from a tricky situation.
Critics have lambasted Rahane for his failure in the last few Test series. The senior batter had scored just 136 runs in 6 innings in South Africa. While he has amassed just 68 runs in 2022, his tally of 479 runs in 2021 wasn’t good either.
His hundred has brightened the chances of him getting picked for the two-match series against Sri Lanka in March. The first Test will be played in Lucknow from March 4, while the 2nd Test, a day-night game, will be contested in Bengaluru from March 12.