Ajinkya Rahane's retirement from international cricket has triggered reflections on a career that spanned more than a decade and featured some of India's most memorable Test moments.
Few partnerships typified that era more than his one with Virat Kohli, who merged different personalities to form one of India's most prolific batting pairings.
Speaking on The Overlap Cricket podcast after announcing his retirement, Rahane revealed how Kohli's aggression suited his own composure, allowing them to build a partnership based on trust, honesty, and constant communication.
Rahane believes the secret behind their success lay in their contrasting approaches to the game. Rahane's success was never solely based on numbers. It was based on absolute honesty, both on and off the field.
"Firstly, I really enjoyed batting with him. We complemented each other really well. The aggressive nature of Virat Kohli and then my calm nature really helped us a lot. The reason for those partnerships was always the positive communication and the frank communication we had.
Whenever Virat thought of going against a particular bowler, and my response was positive, he was doing it. Virat was the guy who always liked people who were coming after him. Whenever they asked me, 'Should I sledge him back?' I said, 'Yeah, if that works for you, go for it.' It was that frank communication that helped us a lot.
We used to spend a lot of time together even off the field. We used to talk a lot about cricket... about Virat's game, about my game, and about the other players. If you're talking cricket with your teammates, you get to learn many more things,” Rahane stated on The Overlap Cricket podcast.
Despite his reputation for intensity, Kohli's advice to Rahane was remarkably uncomplicated.
"It was always positive. He said, 'Well, Jinx, just play your game.' Because naturally I'm an attacking batsman. He said, 'If you feel like going after a particular bowler, don't hesitate at all.' He never told me, 'Let's see how it feels; take out 10 or 15 balls and then play your game. ' If you feel like going after the first ball, go for it,” Rahane added.
Kohli and Rahane scored 3,661 runs together in 67 Test innings at an average of 51.45, registering 14 fifty-run partnerships and 12 century stands. Away from home, they added 1,950 runs in 42 Tests.
