KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane. Pic/ AFP
Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane and opener KL Rahul lead India to a comfortable 8-wicket win over Australia on Day 4 of the fourth and final Test to clinch the series 2-1.
India, chasing their target of 106, scored 107/2 with KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane unbeaten on 51 and 38 respectively.
Lokesh Rahul scored his sixth fifty in Test cricket. Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed for a rare duck today.
Fittingly, Rahul finished the match with a hard-run three and celebrated wildly. Regular skipper Virat Kohli, who sat out of the contest due to a shoulder injury, and the rest of the Indian team gave Rahul a standing ovation.
In fact, Rahul ran in towards the Australian dressing room before taking off his helmet and letting out a wild war cry — an indication of how intensely the series had been fought.
But putting aside the hostilities that started with the infamous ‘Brain Fade’ of rival captain Steve Smith, the two teams shook hands at the end of an aggressively-fought series.
Rahul’s innings of 76 balls had nine fours while Rahane hit four boundaries and two huge sixes of Pat Cummins. It brought the curtains down on a very productive home season in which India won 10 out of the 13 Test matches with two draws and the only defeat coming on a Pune dust-bowl against Smith’s side.
The victory was even more special as skipper and team’s premier batsman Kohli was unavailable in the deciding contest. A reticent Rahane, completely different in character from Kohli, marshalled his resources well in what could be termed as the best out of the 13 Test wins.
More so because the conditions were more Australian than Indian and the home team punted on rookie Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, risking a batsman less in the playing XI.
The day started with a Rahul back cut off Josh Hazlewood followed by a square cut. A swept boundary off Steve O’Keefe set the tone for the day and an imperious pull shot off
Hazlewood showed why Rahul is rated so highly. Once India were 46 for 2, Rahane came in and showed uncharacteristic aggression, taking on the bowlers from word go.
Cummins was pulled and then slashed over the cover region for a couple of sixes, leaving the entire Australian team stunned.
A paddle sweep off Lyon by Rahane was a delicate one after the brutal assault he unleashed on the speed merchant.
With inputs from PTI
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