Despite having made a name for himself at the domestic level, Ajinkya Rahane had to wait really long before he could finally make his Test debut for India.
Even after the retirements of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, it isn't Rahane who got the first nod to fill one of the slots left vacant by the absence of the two greats.
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It is only when Shikhar Dhawan got injured and Cheteshwar Pujara was pushed to open the batting alongside Murali Vijay at the back end of a long home season that Rahane got the opportunity to bat in the top six of the MS Dhoni-led Indian side in the fourth and final Test of the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Delhi.
Rahane recalled vivid memories of that match in an interview with former India cricketer, Deep Dasgupta, on his ESPNcricinfo chat show 'Cricketbaazi'.
“I didn’t know how to react, I was feeling mixed emotions. It was, obviously, a special moment for me, but I was a bit feeling nervousness and excitement as well," said the 32-year-old.
Feeling nervous, Rahane said advice from the legendary Sachin Tendulkar helped him calm down. "When I went down to bat (with India 148/3 in the first innings in response to Australia's 262 on a turning track), Sachin paaji was on the other side. He told me that ‘as a player, you want to do well on debut, and every game. But you need to forget all of this at this moment. Just enjoy the moment’. He gave me this advice. My debut match was not that great, but it was memorable."
"To bat in the middle-order was a bit challenging. I bat at no. 6 position (no. 5 position, actually), and it was challenging. When you are batting at no. 6 in India, you know the ball gets old, and the fielders are standing backwards."
“When you are someone who has opened all your life, then I definitely needed to make an adjustment. But at the time, how difficult is the situation did not even go through my head at the time. I was just enjoying my batting at the time. I am playing for India and I am going to do it for my country. That was all I had in my mind," Rahane remembers.
Unfortunately for the Mumbai right-hander, his debut didn't go as expected. He was dismissed cheaply in both innings and was left out of the XI for the subsequent home series against West Indies later in the year.
It is on the tour of South Africa that followed in December 2013 where Rahane first proved his mettle at the highest level, scoring runs in difficult conditions and cementing his place in the side.
The Indian vice-captain has now played 65 Tests and made 4,203 runs at an average of 42.88, including 11 hundreds and 20 half-centuries.
