County Championship 2024: Ex-India skipper Ajinkya Rahane proved that he can still score big runs by scoring his 40th first-class century, which was also his first for Leicestershire in the County Championship Division 2 match against Glamorgan. He showed his batting prowess and helped his team bounce back at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
He had scored 102 runs off 190 balls during the second innings for Leicestershire, who were trying to stay alive after Glamorgan posted a mammoth target of 550/9 during the first innings. Rahane ended his two-year drought of a first-class century. He scored his 39th century in this format in a Ranji Trophy match in Assam in January last year.
Rahane and Peter Handscomb stitched a gritty partnership and helped the team bounce back after they suffered a batting collapse and were reeling at 74/3. Leicestershire were in deep trouble as they were skittled out for 251 runs in the first innings. Rahane and Handscomb were unbeaten on 47 and 33 runs respectively at the stumps on Saturday. Both of them began their day by building a partnership of 183 runs for the fourth wicket. Part-time off-spinner Kiran Carlson dismissed Rahane ahead of lunch on the fourth day whereas Handscomb entered his 90s.
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Rahane and Handscomb were the lone batters, who scored 40 runs during the fourth innings for Leicestershire. Glamorgan took the lead during the first innings on the back of Colin Ingam's brilliant knock of 257 runs.
Leg-spinner Mason Crane dropped catches of both Rahane and Handscomb and both of them took advantage of these opportunities. Rahane looked in sublime form as he had smashed 13 sixes and one four in Cardiff, where he used all his experience and helped his team bounce back.
Rahane might not have played for the national side since July last year but hasn't given up yet. A good performance in the ongoing County Championship will help him regain confidence for the upcoming domestic season. He was also not selected for the Duleep Trophy, which would be held later this month.
He had performed brilliantly for Leicestershire in the One-Day Cup as he had scored 378 runs, which includes four half-centuries after playing in 10 matches. He made his Leicestershire debut this year as he didn't feature in any match for the same club last year.
He has scored 13,387 runs in first-class cricket after playing in 190 matches. He has scored 5077 runs, which includes 12 centuries after playing in 85 Test matches.