Veteran Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane last week retired from all forms of cricket, bringing an end to a distinguished 12-year international career. During his glittering career, Rahane played 85 Tests, 90 ODIs, and 20 T20Is for India, racking up 5077, 2962, and 375 runs, respectively. Not only with the bat, Rahane was also highly skillful in terms of leadership as he occasionally stepped up to the top job in the absence of regular captains.

The most famous achievement under his leadership was India’s greatest victory over Australia at the Gabba during the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy, where they clinched a remarkable three-wicket win to secure the series 2-1. Now, paying a touching tribute to Rahane, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar stated that Rahane never got the credit he deserved. 

“His record as a skipper is exceptional, with four wins out of six and no losses. Like Rahul Dravid, who also had some terrific wins under his captaincy but never got the credit he deserved, so also Rahane’s leadership hardly got the applause that it merited,” Gavaskar wrote in his column for Mid-Day.

“This is typical of Indian cricket. When the team wins, all praise goes to the individual achievers, be it batters and bowlers, but when the team loses, the captain and the coach get the blame,” he stated.

During India’s tour of Australia back in 2020-21, India suffered an embarrassing eight-wicket win in the opening Test in Melbourne. Following India’s defeat in the opening Test, Virat Kohli, the then Indian captain, returned home for the birth of his first child. And in his absence, Ajinkya Rahane took over the captaincy and guided the team to an outstanding series win. 

“After the demoralising collapse of 36 all out in the first Test of the 2021 series Down Under, it was Rahane, along with Ravi Shastri, who picked the team from the dumps. The vice-captain took over a ship that was ready to sink and not only sailed it into calmer waters but also gave India an unprecedented first win at Australia’s fortress ‘The Gabba’ and with it the series victory too,” Gavaskar mentioned.

"In fact, in the final Test of the series, when most of the top players were unavailable due to injury, India pulled off one of its greatest victories in Test cricket. It proved once again, if ever it was needed, that nobody is indispensable in this game," he added.

Gavaskar further stated that Rahane would now be able to walk away with his head held high. 

"Rahane leaves the game with his head held high and the sincere thanks of cricket lovers for the totally selfless way he played the game. It’s not of many cricketers that it can be said that they did not have a single enemy in the game. There are perhaps less than a dozen, to the best of my knowledge and experience. Ajinkya Rahane can take his place there with his typical humility," Gavaskar wrote.