Ajinkya Rahane scores 11th Test century: Records broken
Indian middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane played intelligent cricket as he scored his 11th Test century in the third Test against South Africa on Sunday. On Day 1, India were in a spot of bother as they had lost three wickets for cheap but Rahane, along with fellow centurion Rohit Sharma, dominated the bowlers to stitch a 200* run-partnership. Here're the records broken by Rahane.
Rahane scores second-most Test centuries for India as number 5
With the ton, Rahane has now become the second-most successful number 5 batsman for India in Tests, in terms of scoring the most centuries. He has scored eight centuries and is tied with Polly Umrigar. The record for scoring the most at number 5 lies with former Indian skipper Mohammad Azharuddin, who scored the double of Rahane and Umrigar (16).
Record fourth-wicket stand for India against South Africa
Rahane scripted a partnership record as his current unbeaten stand of 200+ runs with Rohit is the highest fourth-wicket stand for India against South Africa. The previous best was 178 between Rahane and Kohli, which happened in the last match itself, in Pune. Prior to that, the record was held by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, of 145, in Johannesburg (1996-97).
Rohit and Rahane script a unique one
In an interesting observation, Rohit and Rahane have now become the first batsmen, since 2007, from Mumbai to score centuries in the same Test innings. The previous instance of the same was back in 2007 when Wasim Jaffer and Sachin Tendulkar did it in Dhaka.
Rahane less than 50 runs away from 4,000 Test runs
In an approaching milestone, Rahane is less than 50 runs away from 4,000 Test runs. In the process, he will become the 16th Indian batsman to do so. Among active players, only Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay are ahead of him.
Rahane involved in most 200+ stands for 4th wicket
How has the match panned out so far?
Earlier, winning the toss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli had elected to bat first. While India were initially off to a shaky start, losing their opening three wickets with just 39 runs on the board, it was the pair of Rohit and Rahane who took charge of the innings. India finished Day 1 on 224/3, as the match was interrupted owing to bad light.
