Ajinkya Rahane 2.0: An old school assassin in the world of power hitters

While the bowlers were preparing for Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ben Stokes, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, and MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane has come out of the syllabus in the IPL 2023. You always associate Rahane with playing safe strokes, holding an innings, and playing a supporting role to help the team arrest a collapse or lay the foundation for a big total on the board. 

But with a change in the jersey, it looks as if the Mumbai batter has changed its avatar completely. He looks like a man on a mission looking to conquer the world, yet in the most pleasing manner. Rahane has a remarkable IPL 2023 strike rate of 199.04. The best-ever strike rate for Rahane ever in the IPL was 130.8 in 2015. In the last 2 years, he had a strike rate of 108 and 100 respectively. 

In a format where there is an emphasis on pyrotechnics, high backlifts, the speed of the bat flow, and brute power, Rahane's doing it in the old-school way: timing the ball and finding the gaps. In the world of the Russells and Tim Davids, Rahane gives a real hope to the old school cricket lovers that natural free-flowing stroke makers can still survive in the shortest format. You always associate Rahane with timing. The Mumbaikar has a gifted skill of timing which has been a hallmark throughout his career. In this complicated era of T20 Cricket, Rahane is still oozing class with his uncomplicated batting. 

Rahane took advantage of the chance to bat at No. 3 for CSK after Moeen Ali became ill before their match against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede, and he brilliantly hit 61 off just 27 balls. In that game, Rahane scored the third fastest fifty by CSK batsman in just 19 balls. There is no extravaganza, no funkiness involved in his innings. He just does it with ease without breaking any sweat and letting you know.

Yesterday against his former franchise, Ajinkya Rahane scored 29 balls 71 including Six fours and five sixes with fifty came off just 24 balls at a startling 244+ strike rate.

This is the same Rahane who struggled for the Kolkata Knight Riders the previous season, hitting just 133 runs from seven games at a strike rate under 104. It's hard to believe that Rahane is still playing.

Rahane's batting in numbers | IPL 2023

You could expect Rahane to score quick runs in the powerplay due to the fielding restrictions. But Rahane in this IPL is donning an altogether different role in the side -- playing at number 3. 

Rahane has scored 209 runs at a strike rate of 199 in this IPL. From 2008 till 2022, Rahane had an average career Strike Rate of 120.67 in the IPL. The dot ball percentage for Rahane is just 17, the lowest by him ever in the IPL. The previous lowest by him was 33.7 (in the year 2011) which is almost double of this year's dot ball percentage. He has the highest boundary percentage in this IPL, which you would never associate with Ajinkya Rahane. This is a meteoric rise from the previous editions of the IPL, something unimaginable. Rahane is hitting a boundary per 3.6 balls, topping the list containing Glenn Maxwell (3.7), and Rohit Sharma (4.2). 

In the star-studded CSK batting lineup, you could hardly imagine Rahane as a threat to the opposition. Prior to the first game he played, there wasn't any pressure of performance from him. If he performed well, it was a bonus for the team and if not the other hitters are always there to score quick runs. The 'freed' version of Rahane has helped him maximize his own output. Having said that, to have such a remarkable comeback in a pressure tournament like the IPL is no mean feat. The batting of Rahane is carefree in a sense without being reckless. The batter said that he is playing with a 'clear mindset' in this tournament which has helped him score freely.

Rahane after receiving the man of the match award yesterday said that "his best is yet to come in the tournament". If this is not his best, better watch out bowlers for the new CSK number 3 in the tournament. Rahane will hope that he keeps contributing to his team's success in the second half as well with such crucial knocks and give his captain a fitting farewell.

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