Ajinkya Rahane's glorious simplicity is making believers of us all

It is only one innings but what a glorious innings it was. Criticised for soft dismissals in the previous two ODIs, Ajinkya Rahane responded with a century of glorious simplicity to crush England and seal the series for India. His innings had none of the fancy flourishes modern batsmen tend to use in limited-overs cricket. There were no reverse-sweeps, scoops, or shovel shots. It was instead a seamless procession of proper cricket shots, the use of loft the only concession to the truncated nature of the contest. Rahane doesn’t possess the the brutality of Shikhar Dhawan or the aggression of Virat Kohli. But he is perhaps the sweetest timer of the cricket ball in this Indian side. Notice was served as early as the fifth over, when he dispatched James Anderson to the boundary four times. The first and last of those were the most audacious as he took deliveries on offstump and redirected them over and and through mid-wicket. [caption id=“attachment_1694595” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  India’s Ajinkya Rahane celebrates scoring a century against England during the fourth ODI. AP[/caption] The third boundary was the charm though, as Rahane leaned forward and elegantly caressed the ball beyond the grasp of short cover and wide of mid-off. Such was the control Rahane had that even when he slog-swept Moeen Ali for six to reach his half-century, the stroke seemed devoid of both risk and muscular effort. Steven Finn and Anderson would also be sent soaring over the ropes, the latter swatted over deep midwicket as nonchalantly as a man might swat a mosquito. Rahane’s first fifty took him 60 deliveries, his second would take him just 36. Yet there was never a sense that Rahane was out of control at any stage. He had reduced batting to his most basic level: see ball, hit ball away from fielders. When Chris Woakes bounced him, Rahane leaned back and at the last moment directed the ball over the keeper to the third man boundary. It was not risky or experimental. It was just the obvious shot to play to such a delivery. It also took him to 92 and past his previous best of 91. A scampered two to fine leg brought up his hundred and well deserved celebrations. Rahane didn’t quite see India all the way through, scooping a full toss to cover, but the match was over as a contest by then. Rahane’s knock also sent out a message in giant flashing lights that he can be a natural opener for India in the 50-over game, a message that his captain MS Dhoni clearly received. “[Opening] is a good slot for [Rahane],” Dhoni said. “He is someone who times the ball really well but also plays proper cricketing shots. It is a slot that really suits him. Because of that, we can have Rohit [Sharma] in the middle order but we don’t want to force anything as of yet.” In an interview with the BCCI’s website after the third ODI, Rahane said he was trying to work out why he was getting out when he was well set. “I think I need to make a conscious effort to bat very tight once I reach that stage of my innings,” he said. “Saying that, I also need to ensure I don’t stop scoring completely and keep the run-flow going. I generally have a good concentration level and the lapses don’t happen often. This is a very strange phase for me. But I know that it is just a matter of one innings before I get past this issue. Once I cross the 50-60 mark, I am pretty sure I can go on to score a big one.” Not only was Rahane true to his word, his fluency in the early going allowed Dhawan to take his time to get set and then find his range. Unlike Rohit, who tends to play out a lot of dot balls in the opening overs, Rahane is also able to rotate the strike, so Dhawan wasn’t left stranded at the non-striker’s end. The result was a 183-run opening partnership, India’s highest ever in England and their fourth-highest of all time. Dhawan ended up with an unbeaten 97 from 81 balls and capped the match with flat hard four to cover point and a thumped six over mid-on. The first twirl of his moustache followed as he triumphantly walked off the ground. Dhoni and India may not want to force a change at the top just yet but a few more innings like this from Rahane (and Dhawan) and they won’t have a choice.