Ajinkya Rahane’s dismissal on Day 3 of the second Test between India and Australia at Melbourne was arguably the turning point for the hosts. Resuming the day on 104, Rahane started the day well and looked to be in fine touch before a run out that came against the run of play cut his innings short. Jadeja was batting on 49 when he played a defensive shot off a delivery from Nathan Lyon towards the off side. Wanting to get to his fifty quickly perhaps forced Jadeja to just take off for that single. In all fairness to Jadeja, Rahane did not send him back and instead went for the run. (INDIA vs AUSTRALIA FULL COVERAGE | INDIA vs AUSTRALIA FULL SCHEDULE)
Rahane didn’t look to be in too much trouble but the replays showed his bat was on the line of the crease and he was given out. However, it was what he did after being given out that had social media users in awe. (LIVE BLOG | LIVE SCORECARD)
Rahane simply went up to Jadeja, tapped him and gestured as if to say that the innings wasn’t over and that he should kick on from here before beginning the walk back to the pavillion.
Rahane’s sportsmanship is superb…even Jadeja got him out, encouraged him to continue without any burden. Great gesture!!#INDvAUS— Ankur Kumar (@ankurkumar78) December 28, 2020
Excellent Gesture by @ajinkyarahane88 to keep Jaddu motivated and letting him know that job not yet done..👍#BoxingDay #boxingday2020 #BoxingDayTest #AUSvIND #AUSvsIND #AUSvINDtest #INDvAUS #Australia #ausvsindonsony #Aus #India #IndianCricketTeam #AjinkyaRahane #RavindraJadeja pic.twitter.com/1r94OnH05W— 🇮🇳🇮🇳 शुभम दोहरे 🇮🇳🇮🇳 (@Shubhamdohare9) December 28, 2020
What an amazing reaction by Rahane after the runout decision.Didn’t let the decision affect jadeja.True leader.Unbelievable stuff.#AUSvIND #INDvAUS @cricketaakash @bhogleharsha— RAHUL AGRAWAL (@RAHUL2494) December 28, 2020
Ajinkya Rahane‘s response towards teammate Ravendra Jadeja after being run out speaks volumes for his leadership … given the circumstances he played one of the finest innings by a visiting captain to AUS … outstanding knock 👏🏏 #AUSvIND— Glenn Mitchell (@MitchellGlenn) December 28, 2020
Nice gesture from Rahane, he was encouraging Jadeja after the mistake which lead to the wicket through runout of the captain. pic.twitter.com/m9Fv0SP5QT— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 28, 2020
Starting the day at 279/5 and a lead of 84 runs, Rahane aJadeja looked early on Day 3 - the best batting conditions of the Test - to take India further to a position of strength, but they only managed to add 15 runs to their overnight partnership of 106 before Rahane was run-out for the first time in his Test career.
However, Australia continued to be sloppy in the field and dropped a few chances once again to the India lower-order to add some valuable runs and play out most of the first session.
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