AUS vs IND: Ajinkya Rahane gets 12th century trial, puts India in command at MCG

Ajinkya Rahane, India’s alternate captain in Virat Kohli’s absence, broke his 12 hundred in the ongoing Boxing Day test at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday. Rahane came into batting in the 22nd when Pat Cummins was in the middle of a fire spell, where he threw nine trotting overs. The India captain weathered the storm and played an energetic blow to carry the visitors past Australia’s first-inning score of 195 and into a comfortable position in the second round of the four-game series.

Rahane reached 11 limits en route to his 195-ball century.

Initially, it stabilized entries after India had lost Shubman Gill and Cheteshwar Pujara in quick succession.

Rahane added 52 runs with Hanuma Vihari for the fourth wicket. Nathan Lyon broke the partnership by eliminating Vihari by 21.

Rishabh Pant joined the skipper in the middle and races started pouring in quickly for India.

Pant scored 29 runs in 40 deliveries with the help of three limits before being fired by Mitchell Starc.

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Then Rahane partnered with more than 100 people with Ravindra Jadeja to bring India’s leadership beyond 50.

For Australia, Starc and Cummins each secured two sites, while Lyon also contributed one site. But Adelaide star Josh Hazlewood was left without any land in the second round in progress.