Virat Kohli's ‘favourite Test batting partner’ retires as Tendulkar

Ajinkya Rahane rarely demanded attention during his playing career. Even at his best, he seemed more comfortable letting a classic drive down the ground, a hundred overseas or a sharp catch at slip speak for him.

On Thursday, however, as he announced his retirement from international cricket, some of the most prominent figures in Indian cricket made sure his contribution did not pass quietly. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane for India in a Test match.

What Happened

(Virat Kohli X)Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravi Shastri, Virender Sehwag and several of Rahane's former India teammates led the tributes on social media, remembering not merely the runs he scored but the composure, humility and understated toughness that defined his.

• Rahane called time on an international journey that produced 8,414 runs across formats.

• The bulk of his legacy was built in Test cricket, where he scored 5,077 runs in 85 matches, including 12 centuries.

• When Virat Kohli returned home after the first Test of the 2020-21 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rahane inherited an India side that had just been bowled out for 36 in Adelaide.

Key Details

Yet one chapter inevitably towers over everything else. By the end of the series, an injury-ravaged team had beaten Australia 2-1 on their own soil, with Rahane's century in Melbourne becoming the innings around which one of Indian cricket's most celebrated comebacks.

• VVS Laxman described Rahane's leadership during the 2020-21 series as “calm, inspiring”, while also highlighting the discipline, selflessness and work ethic that characterised his career.

• In retirement, the people who shared its dressing rooms with him offered perhaps the clearest measure of how highly he was regarded within them.

• Rahane spent much of his career operating away from the centre of Indian cricket's spotlight.

Why It Matters

It was little surprise that Australia featured repeatedly as his contemporaries looked back on his career. Virat Kohli's farewell carried the intimacy of two players who had spent years alongside each other in India's Test middle order.

• And almost everybody remembered Australia.

• Former players remembered the discipline.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by Hindustan Times as more details emerge