Ajinkya Rahane scores his 36th first-class century.

On Day 1 of their Group D opener at the Sardar Vallabhi Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday, February 17, Ajinkya Rahane made a century on his comeback to Ranji Trophy cricket, leading Mumbai’s fightback against Saurashtra. Rahane took his time and scored his 36th first-class century for Mumbai in 212 balls.

Rahane reached 99 with a six against left-arm spinner Dharmandrasinh Jadeja. Sarfaraz Khan, his batting partner, pounded the air in joy as he reached the three-figure mark with a single. On a sweltering day, the circumstances were difficult, but Rahane utilized all his expertise to overcome the Saurashtra bowling danger.

Rahane smashed 14 boundaries and two sixes as part of a 150-plus stand with Sarfaraz, who also reached a century in 191 balls, hitting two sixes and 11 boundaries.

It was a crucial knock for Mumbai, who were reeling at 44/3 after losing skipper Prithvi Shaw (1), Akash Gomel (8), and Sachin Yadav (19) in the opening 13 overs. Rahane and Sarfaraz, on the other hand, blended prudence with superb strokeplay to throw the pressure back on Saurashtra, who were led by Jaydev Unadkat.

Ajinkya Rahane was under a lot of strain since his place in the Indian Test team was in trouble following a streak of disappointing performances. In India’s 2-1 defeat in a Test series in South Africa earlier this year, the senior hitter had only 136 runs in six innings.

Rahane’s Test stats have dropped significantly. He has only 68 runs in 2022, compared to 479 runs in 2021 at an average of 20.82. Rahane was  fired as the Indian Test team’s vice-captain ahead of the South African trip.

The century against Saurashtra on Thursday would almost surely increase Rahane’s chances of being included in the Indian Test team for the next two-match series against Sri Lanka. India will host the islands in the first Test beginning March 4 in Lucknow, while the second Test, a day-night encounter, will begin March 12 in Bengaluru.

Notably, Cheteshwar Pujara is a member of the Saurashtra playing XI, and the senior batter needs to run in this Ranji Trophy season to rescue his dwindling Test career.

In an interview with PTI, BCCI president Sourav Ganguly emphasized the importance of large runs from Rahane and Pujara in the Ranji Trophy, which resumed play on Thursday after a two-year break.