India came up with great performance under skipper Ajinkya Rahane, to tame Australia in the Boxing Day Test for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), on Tuesday. It helped Rahane to maintain a clean sheet in his Test captaincy reign, so far.
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Rahane has so far captained India in three Tests, including the one in Melbourne, as Virat Kohli left the team on paternity leave. Meanwhile, India head coach Ravi Shastri praised Rahane's shrewdness as captain, besides his calming influence.
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"He is a very shrewd leader and a good reader of the game. I thought his calm composure out there helped the debutants, as well as the bowlers. There was a calming influence out there in spite of losing Umesh," said Shastri following the match, reports PTI.
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On being asked to compare Rahane's captaincy with that of Kohli's, Shastri reckoned, "See, both are good readers of the game, Virat is very passionate, Ajinkya, on the other hand, is very calm and composed, and it's their characters. Virat is more in your face, while Ajinkya is quite prepared to sit back in a very calm and composed manner, but deep inside, he knows what he wants."
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Furthermore, Shastri also hailed Rahane's fine knock of 112 that he felt was the game's turning point. "The discipline, you know on such a big stage...When he (Rahane) went out to bat, we were two down for 60, and then to bat six hours, on probably the toughest day to bat, because it was overcast all day and he batted for six hours, unbelievable concentration. I thought that was the turning point. His innings was the turning point." he revived.
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With this win, Rahane scripted some records, both as a batsman and a captain, which happened to be:- Equalling MS Dhoni's record of winning first three Tests as captain.- Second overseas captain to win Man of the Match award in a Test after Sachin Tendulkar.- First Indian Test skipper to score a ton in Australia, in a winning cause.- First Indian skipper (fifth overall) to score the winning runs in a Test, in Australia. Second overall after Dhoni.
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Match summary: Winning the toss, Australia had elected to bat first before being bundled out for 195, courtesy Jasprit Bumrah's 456. India scored 326 and earned a 131-run lead in the first innings, thanks to a centurion innings form Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra Jadeja's 57. The second innings saw Australia getting skittled for 200, owing to Bumrah and Jadeja's two-for, while in reply, India comfortably sailed home by eight wickets.Brief scores: Australia 195 and 200 (Green 45; Siraj 337) lost to India 326 and 702 (Gill 35; Starc 120) by eight wickets.
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