Download the all-new Republic app:

Published 19:48 IST, August 30th 2019

Ajinkya Rahane 'a bit emotional' on scoring 10th ton in Windies test

Ajinkya Rahane has revealed that he became “a bit emotional” after scoring a match-winning century against the West Indies in India's first test in Antigua

Reported by: Jay Pandya
Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
null | Image: self
Advertisement

India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has revealed that he became “a bit emotional” after scoring a match-winning century against West Indies in the first Test in Antigua. Ajinkya Rahane scored his 10th Test century after a gap of 2 years and called it “special”. Rahane contributed with 81 and 102 in the two innings he played which helped India defeat the West Indies by a huge margin of 318 runs.

An opportunity to do something special

“I thought 10th hundred was really special. I wasn’t thinking about any particular celebration, it came out automatically. I was a little bit emotional,” Rahane told the reporters during the press conference before the second and final Test at Sabina Park. Before the start of the Test series, Rahane’s form was a matter of concern as he had not scored a century in his previous 17 Test matches.

Advertisement

“It took me two years to get that 10th hundred. As I said the process always matters to me a lot. Preparations before each and every series is very important. I was actually doing that throughout the two years, and so 10th hundred was really special,” he said. In the first innings, the team was in a spot of bother when they lost 3 wickets with only 25 runs scored. Rahane came into bat with the job of rescuing the team. He said that he wasn't thinking about personal milestones and saw it as an opportunity to do something special for the team.

READ | Virat Kohli, Anushka Sharma & Team India stars ride waves on a yacht

Advertisement
“We were under pressure. I thought West Indies bowled really well throughout that day. It was an opportunity for me to do something special for my team. I think because of the situation I wasn’t thinking about myself because it was important to get that partnership going - one player had to bat and we knew that. I thought it was something special for me personally as well because we knew we were in a difficult position at that point of time and happily we did really well and came back strongly from that point.”, he said.

READ | Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane lift India's spirits on Day three vs WI

Vihari performance to help him to consolidate his place in the playing XI  

He also praised the all-rounder batsman Hanuma Vihari who scored 93 runs in the second innings and has strengthened the middle-order. “Vihari did very well in India A tours and he did really well in the domestic circuit. So it’s good that players who actually did consistently well over a period of time in domestic cricket are doing well at the international level,” he said. Rahane also spoke about Rohit Sharma missing the first Test match. He said, “At the same time, Rohit is also a quality player, a special player - it's hard to see him miss out on a Test match.”

Advertisement

READ | Virat Kohli leads ICC Test rankings, Jasprit Bumrah makes maiden entry

Indian team to look for a whitewash

India will look to win the second Test match which starts on August 30 and win the series. Indian bowlers were in great form in the first match and will look to repeat their heroics. Ishant Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah took 14 wickets between themselves and Ravindra Jadeja contributed with a half-century and 2 wickets in the match. India has 60 Test Championship points and will look to get another 60 points by defeating the West Indies.

Advertisement

READ | Jasprit Bumrah's 2nd innings spell hailed by Bharat Arun as 'best' 

18:14 IST, August 30th 2019