Muristek
Ajinkya Rahane takes dig at 'someone' for taking credit for Aussie tour win
New Delhi, February 10
A central figure in India's epic turnaround during the 2020-21 tour of Australia, stand-in captain of that series Ajinkya Rahane says "someone else took the credit" for decisions he made to resurrect the team after the nightmarish 36 all out in the first Test in Adelaide. As regular captain Virat Kohli flew out on parental leave, leaving in his wake the disappointment of the humiliating loss in the series-opener in Adelaide, Rahane took over the reins in difficult circumstances.
What followed was one of the most incredible turnarounds in sport as India rebounded to win the second match in Melbourne by eight wickets, with Rahane leading the comeback with a magnificent hundred. "I know what I've done there. I don't need to tell anyone. That's not my nature to go and take credit. Yes, there were some things that I took the decisions on the field or in the dressing room but someone else took the credit for it," Rahane said in a TV interview.
Rahane did not take any names but his comments could well be a veiled attack on then head coach Ravi Shastri, who was widely acclaimed for the team's performance and dominated the media space for being the architect of the turnaround, given that the dressing room resembled a hospital ward at one point. In fact, Shastri became the voice of the team after that brilliant victory, and the one in Brisbane.
India missed three frontline players in Melbourne and continued to lose key players but still emerged triumphant at the end. "After that, the reactions from people or those who took credit or what was said on the media, 'I did this' or 'this was my decision', or 'this was my call', it was for them to talk about," Rahane said. —