127 & 100*- AJINKYA RAHANE, Delhi, 2015

The 2015 South Africa tour to India is best remembered for the mauling visitors received by the home team on pitches that turned and bounced viciously. India had come into the fourth Test in Delhi having won the series already, but still had a lot to prove when it came to dominance.

Enter Ajinkya Rahane. His 127 helped India put on 334 runs on a difficult pitch to bat on and he was helped by R Ashwin’s 56. Rahane was sublime in tacking Proteas bowling featuring Morne Morkel, Kyle Abbott, who picked 5/40 and spinners Dane Piedt and Imran Tahir.

WATCH – Pujara, Rahane and Bumrah prepare for South Africa Test series

South Africa was blown away for just 121 runs in their first innings thanks to Ravindra Jadeja’s 5/30. In the second innings, Morne Morkel put India in a spot of bother by removing the top three in M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma for cheap. However, skipper Virat Kohli made 88 and Ajinkya Rahane made another 100*, his second century of the match, helping India to 264/5d and setting the opposition a target of 481 runs.

Rahane was the Man of the Match for his twin centuries as India won the series 3-0 and proved for once and all that he was the man for the crisis for the Indian team.