Journalism of Courage
It was probably only the second rash shot he had played all day. There had been a flash outside the off-stump in the third over after lunch. Ajinkya Rahane had admonished himself duly after that slip-up. This time he tried to swat a length ball across the line from Vernon Philander. On another day the ball could easily have just soared over the stumps.
Agonizingly for Indias No.6 it clipped the top of leg-stump hard enough to topple the bail over leaving Rahane crestfallen and four runs short of a deserved maiden Test ton. As he shut his eyes and threw back the head in despair,even the South African players,including Jacques Kallis,came forward to console the young Indian batsman.
Some thousand miles away in a different time-zone,Pravin Amre sat in front of his television equally aghast,if not slightly cross. Rahane had just narrowly missed out on joining him on the honours board at Kingsmead. Amre had entered his name there in grand fashion with a gutsy ton on Test debut back in 1992. Here,a fellow Mumbai middle-order batsman had walked out at No.6 – just like he had done 21 years ago – and handled a quality South African attack with similar composure and skill. Despite the disappointment,there was no dearth of admiration for Amre over his wards performance-an average of 69.66 across the two Tests-especially considering the hard-work mentor and pupil had put in prior to the tour. And while most of the work done during those sessions was technical,there were also a few mental notes that had been passed on.
We began with slight change in back lift. When you play bounce there is less reaction time. Before we began training I told him that if you need to score in South Africa than you have to take blows,I too have taken blows and then only runs will come there, said Amre.
To his credit,Rahane did take blows to his body and his batting ego. Dale Steyn had hit him twice on the head during the first innings. Rahane had hardly flinched and got on with his batting. He had battled hard even in the first innings,finishing unbeaten on 51.
The similarities between his 96 and the 103 scored by Amre during Indias first tour to South Africa were uncanny. The former Mumbai coach had walked out to bat with India in dire straits at 38/4 while Rahane came in with the second Test in Durban rapidly shifting away from India and with Steyn on fire.
The Protea pacer had just gotten rid of Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara with his first two overs of the morning. He was on top. The pressure was on Rahane and the Indian score read 78/4,still around 80 runs in the deficit.
Rahane never really looked uneasy from the very start. He left deliveries assuredly despite Steyn and Philander repeatedly tempting him with length deliveries that pitched on his off-stump and moved away. He was also very certain with his foot-work.
All that he had worked on during his sessions at BKC in Mumbai.
We began with less reaction time theory where I used to bowl to him from 18 yards with a wet rubber ball. The first few hours were spent only leaving it. The more you leave the more one survives. Then in another session he played only bouncers,I knew South African bowlers will target him with bounce. I used to give throw downs with rackets so that he can get the feeling of the pace, Amre explained.
Rahane was also told by his former coach that scoring runs down the wicket was never going to be easy in South Africa because of the pitches and the length generally bowled by the fast bowlers here. The advice was to play more square of the wicket,even if it meant opening the face of the bat at the last moment. The crucial part of it was to get the front-foot out and never try to play the ball on the toes. And Rahane did just that. In fact,59 runs off his eventual 96 came square of the wicket on both sides,including the audacious cut shot for six off Philander in the very over that he got out.
The trademark of Rahanes knock were his drives both off the front and back foot. And probably also the way he never looked to overplay a shot. It was more about getting the foot to the pitch of the ball and timing it well. Seven of his 11 boundaries came off the drive,mainly off Steyn. Not always when he pitched it full. Rahane was prepared to drive on the up with his hands doing a bulk of the work at the last minute.
Rahanes rear-guard effort might not have been good enough to save the day for India. But his runs in the series came in adverse conditions and crucial moments for India. And despite falling four runs short of joining Amre,he too will leave these shores having enhanced his reputation,if not cemented his place in the Indian Test XI.
