Ajinkya Rahane redeems himself with dream T20 innings

“Oh, who would have thought – who would have thought that it would be Ajinkya Rahane with the fastest [half-]century of IPL 2023?” chimed Ian Bishop on air after Rahane, on CSK debut – in IPL’s El Clásico no less – vroomed to a 19-ball fifty, the quickest of IPL 2023 hitherto, at the Wankhede Stadium against hosts Mumbai Indians. 

Bishop was all of us on Saturday night, and to answer his question, not even Rahane would have thought – he discovered he will be featuring in the contest only moments before the toss, as Stephen Fleming, the CSK head coach, informed him of Moeen Ali’s illness. Rahane recognised the serendipity.

Rahane has dealt a few meaty blows in the last year and a half, ranging from the Test snub to no longer being a centrally contracted Indian player. But on Saturday, he showed such casualties do not wither his avarice to lift his willow and seize an opportunity if it so arrives. 

Rahane has a career strike rate of 120.12 after 218 T20 innings. He does not possess biceps like Russell or a giant frame like Pollard. Nor does he have the ability to stand and deliver like Gayle. But what he has is the gift of timing. And when that is powdered with a bit of intent, this is what the product looks like. A visual treat would be an understatement. 

After Devon Conway chopped Jason Behrendorff onto his stumps, Rahane strolled on an unusually quick run-scoring spree, ending with seven fours and three sixes in an innings in which he struck at almost 226, with each one his boundary strokes more scrumptious than the other. 

Rahane got off the mark with a couple, pushing Behrendorff through the point region. He swivel-pulled the same bowler for six over fine leg to register his first maximum. But the real cracker came in the fourth over, when Rahane consigned a hapless Arshad Khan to a 23-run over that progressed 6,4,4,4,4,1 - rolling back the clock to that fateful April 2012 night, when he struck RCB’s Sreenath Aravind for six consecutive fours in an IPL first.

It was Arshad who bore the brunt of an on-song Rahane this time. He started with a pick-up shot: a swing over deep fine for six as the bowler strayed onto his pads from round the wicket. The follow-up delivery had width on offer, duly smacked past point. A deft touch towards short third was followed by another slash towards point to earn him another eight runs.

But the best shot of the over came on the fifth ball when Arshad switched to around the wicket after taking a thrashing. He erred, throwing a drivable, overcooked delivery, which Rahane obliged with a full face of his bat for another four down the ground to the awe of every single witness. 

He later pulled Cameron Green for a six over deep midwicket, and thwacked Piyush Chawla for consecutive fours in the final over of the powerplay to notch up the joint second-fastest half-century for a CSK batter, and his first in IPL since 2020. For someone guilty of conservative play in a format that demands the exact opposite, Rahane’s 27-ball 61 was an innings of redemption.

"Mahi bhai's [MS Dhoni] instruction was completely clear: just play with intent, back yourself, don't change anything else. If your intent is good, I have the shots that I can play at any ground. So, it was all about keeping it simple for me,” Rahane told the press after CSK's seven-wicket win. He followed the instructions, indeed.

The MI-CSK clash, otherwise, was a bit of a damp squib. It was for the first time neither Pollard nor Bravo was involved in the ‘Classico’, with both veterans having undertaken coaching duties. Hussey, Vijay and Raina are long gone, as have Tendulkar, Malinga and Harbhajan. du Plessis and Pandyas have changed loyalties. And there was no Stokes or Archer and Moeen or Bumrah either. 

Dhoni and Rohit were enough for murals and billboards, but on the field, the former was not required to bat and the latter lasted all of 13 balls. Rahane added a new chapter to the rivalry, and eventually, it was him – and partly Jadeja – who made it a “paisa vasool” for those who turned up at the Wankhede.