Former Indian player Madan Lal applauded Ajinkya Rahane, who announced his retirement from international cricket on Thursday, saying that he had been a “pillar of Indian cricket” and that no one would be able to truly replace him because of his ability to fight in every situation as well. Rahane, who last played for India in 2023, hung up his boots after having a decorated international career marked by several match-saving and match-winning knocks.
Speaking to ANI, Madan Lal said, “Rahane has been a pillar of Indian cricket. Any player who has played international cricket for 12 to 15 years will certainly be regarded highly; he will be considered a great. In my view, Ajinkya Rahane was a true gentleman cricketer. I have never seen any controversy surrounding him. He played around 88 (85) Test matches, scored more than 5,000 runs, including centuries, and also played a lot of One Day International cricket, where he scored over 2,000 runs.”
“If your performance remains at this level, you will definitely be remembered as a great player. He performed exceptionally well for Mumbai as well. Mumbai has always produced and given fine cricketers to Indian cricket,” he again said.
Like many Indian fans, for Madan Lal as well, the biggest highlight of Rahane’s career was how he led Team India and guided the young team after the poor defeat in the Adelaide Test in 2020, where India were all out for just 36 runs. After the team’s then-regular skipper Virat Kohli left the squad after the defeat for the birth of his child, it was Rahane who stepped up as captain and led his team to an iconic 2-1 series win against all odds as well.
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“His biggest highlight, in my opinion, was when we were bowled out for 36 runs in Australia and then went on to win the series 2-1. That shows what a remarkable leader he was. To get bowled out for 36 and then rally the team to win the Test match and the series demonstrates how calm and quiet a leader he was. You win such matches only when you think in the right direction. Ajinkya Rahane served India remarkably well. I wish him all the luck, and in his next journey, he can certainly play a great role,” he further added.
“His team will definitely miss him because when a player plays cricket for 15 years, you are bound to miss them. However, no one can truly replace Ajinkya Rahane. He was a player who, whenever a crisis arose, held one end up firmly. When two or three quick wickets fall, the pressure is immense, but he built the innings from there. The names you mentioned, Rishabh Pant, Sai Sudharsan or Yashasvi Jaiswal, are all fantastic young players. But only when they play for as long as Ajinkya Rahane did can we truly say they belong to the same class as Ajinkya Rahane,” he stated.
However, Ajinkya Rahane had an undefeated Test captaincy record, featuring four wins and two draws, and the highest win percentage for an Indian Test captain with at least five matches as well. In Tests, Rahane played 85 matches and 144 innings, scoring 5,077 runs, including 12 centuries and 26 fifties, which came at an average of 38.46 and a strike rate of 49.50. In ODIs, he played 90 matches, scoring 2,962 runs, with 3 centuries and 24 fifties, at an average of 35.26 and a strike rate of 78.63 as well. In T20Is, he played 20 games, scoring 375 runs, with one fifty, at an average of 20.83 and a strike rate of 113.29 as well.
“But whatever opportunities he received, he delivered great performances, and the results are right in front of you. International cricket is not easy; it is a high-pressure environment. For a player like Ajinkya Rahane to serve for 15 years, I would say well done to Ajinkya Rahane. I wish him all the best for his future journey,” Madan Lal concluded.
