Twitter Reactions: Ajinkya Rahane's unbeaten century headlines India's first day of warm-up game against Australia A

India ended the day on 237/8 after 90 overs with Rahane staying unbeaten on 108.

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Ajinkya Rahane
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Ajinkya Rahane. (Photo Source: Getty Images)

Ahead of the much-awaited four-match Test series between India and Australia, the visitors got into the action with the first warm-up game against Australia. India’s Test specialists finally got a hit out after a gap of so many months due to COVID-19. Even Australia A had some of the national team players including skipper Tim Paine and Travis Head.

After opting to bat first, India A got off to a worst possible start as their openers Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw failed to open the account. The team was struggling at 6/2 in the third over itself and it soon turned 40/3 after Hanuma Vihari was pinned in front of the stumps by Jackson Bird. But two of India’s most dependable players joined hands then to resurrect the innings.

Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara batted patiently to stitch a 76-run partnership. The latter looked once again in his zone and seemed to be in no fuss despite not playing the sport for a long time. Pujara scored a half-century before a well-directed short ball had him fending awkwardly only for the edge to carry to the leg-slip fielder.

India A then endured a mini collapse again Wriddhiman Saha and Ravi Ashwin falling quickly just before Tea. From 116/3, they were reduced to 128/6 in no time and there were fears of the team getting bundled out for a paltry score.

Ajinkya Rahane stands tall

However, the skipper Ajinkya Rahane had other ideas. He took Kuldeep Yadav by his side and batted on patiently to first go past the 50-run mark. The latter also survived a couple of close calls but then looked determined on playing the second fiddle at the crucial stage. Rahane, meanwhile, upped the ante after getting his eye in post the Tea break.

He played some eye-catching strokes to add 69 runs for the 7th wicket and then 38 runs for 8th wicket with Umesh Yadav. At the fag end of the day, he also got to his 34th first-class century. Rahane looked in very good touch during his heroic knock and his confidence is of paramount importance for India given the fact that he will most probably leading the team after Virat Kohli leaves post the first Test.

India A managed to play out the day and posted 237 runs for the loss of 8 wickets after 90 overs with Rahane remaining unbeaten on 108 off 228 deliveries while Mohammed Siraj is hanging in with him. For Australia A, James Pattinson was the most impressive bowler with three wickets while Michael Neser picked a couple as well.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

https://twitter.com/aikido_07/status/1335481045534167040?s=20

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