Ajinkya Rahane comes a full circle

Over two years ago, Ajinkya Rahane made his Test debut on this very ground against Australia. He had made it to the squad on the back of tons of runs at the domestic circuit. He was touted as the next big thing from Mumbai's batting streamline. After all the hype, the bite of nerves was quite spectacular. Playing an uncharacteristic slog, Rahane's dismissal was a moment that stuck out in a spinner-dominated game.

21 Tests later, he was back to the same scene, on the same ground. He hadn't registered a score over 15 in India, his team was under pressure on the first day and needed a rescue act.

When he made his debut, Rahane was a man fraught with tension. He was eager to make a mark, too many things were playing on his mind and he got out playing a rash, rush-of-blood hoick.

A bundle of cliches escape Bangar's mouth when asked about the approach of Rahane today. "I think what has been happening in the past two Test matches was that he was slightly hurrying through his shots earlier on in his innings, but he reworked his strategy a bit and is willing to spend time in the middle during initial stages, waiting for the loose balls. This may sound very cliched, (but) that's key to batsmanship in longer format where you need to give initial time to the bowlers. Get used to the pace of the wicket." But cliches are truth as well.

Between these two innings, Rahane's small career has come through that fairytale full circle. It was India's tour of South Africa in 2013 that kick-started Rahane's Test Sojourn. He proved his mettle in Durban and went on to enhance his reputation in places such as Wellington, Lord's, MCG and Colombo.

When he made his debut, India were still on the lookout for middle-order replacements after the retirements of the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman. He made just 7 and 1. Experience makes a world of a difference, they say.

Today, when India were 66 for 3 at one stage and later 139 for 6, there would have still been an air of calm in the dressing room just because Rahane was batting out there and batting well. He had been shunted to the No. 3 position for a while in Sri Lanka, but that experiment has been put to bed. "No. 5 is the position that team is looking for him," says Bangar.

And adapting to the demands of the role - typically acting as the bridge between the top four and the lower middle-order - is something that is being done expertly by Rahane. He added 70 with Kohli for the fourth wicket, and later 59 with Jadeja, and an unbeaten 33 with Ashwin. Despite not getting the kind of scores he had accustomed himself to in the first two Tests, there was hardly any doubt over Rahane's spot. It was always a question of 'When' rather than 'If'.

Before the start of the match, Virat Kohli was asked about the memories associated with playing in Kotla. "This is the ground which has literally kick-started my career as far as state cricket is concerned. I made my Ranji debut for Delhi here, so that day remains special as well. I scored a lot of runs here at this ground in Ranji Trophy, IPL and ODIs, I have an ODI hundred here, so I really like playing here. I like the feel of the ground, so that is something that always there in my mind and I can relate to that," he said.

Rahane wouldn't have empathized with those emotions. Certainly not in a Test match after that debut. In many ways it was probably good that he was pushed to only think about the spot of bother that India were in when he walked out. It also helped that for the first part of his innings, he had a fluent Kohli for company, but when the nerves were settled, he went into his comfort zone. The spinners didn't challenge him enough to trouble him, neither did reverse swing or fall of wickets. With Rahane's batting, the sense of calm is all pervading and perhaps infectious.

The biggest change since debut for Rahane, has probably been temperamental. The successes on the field have stacked up, consequently the confidence has grown. Two years ago, India were in search of the perfect No. 5 in Kotla. Two years hence, Rahane's reassurance proved why he was the perfect man for the slot.