In modern age cricket, flamboyance, more than often, trumps class and diligence, mostly due to commercial reasons. The Virat Kohlis, AB de Villiers(s) and Chris Gayles always get more attention and earn more money, mainly due to their abilities to say dialogues in commercials and propensity to offer razzmatazz (conflicts on-field and affairs off-it) to the press. However, beneath this layer of extravagance and indulgence, operates a solid line of people who restore parity to proceedings and form the anchor on which the ship of flamboyance sails at a fast speed – people like Ajinkya Rahane.

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Ajinkya Rahane – The vintage model in a showroom full of sports cars

Shikhar Dhawan scored a magnificent hundred that propelled India to a 300-plus total against South Africa and set up a morale-boosting win. However, when one looks back at the game closely, Rahane’s 79 from 60 actually took the game away from South Africa to give India the advantage. However, Rahane, after the win, remained in the background as Shikhar Dhawan, by virtue of his giant knock and deservingly so, stole the headlines. Without taking anything away from the likes of Kohli, Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, the talents of Rahane are no less than his more illustrious teammates and contemporaries.

Born in a middle-class Maharashtrian family, Rahane’s value system makes him the cricketer he is today. Affectionately called Jinx, Rahane, aged 26 years, is married, does meditation frequently and is a firm believer in God. To be fair to Clinic All Clear, GQ magazine and Colors channel, these are not exactly credentials that would help Rahane get enough air time and a multi-million dollar endorsement contract. However, he does what he needs to do, score runs and help his team, which is what matters at the end of the day.

Quite surprisingly, Rahane has scored all his three Test hundreds outside India, one each in Australia, New Zealand and England. Hard working, talented and extremely down-to-earth, Rahane is the scientist who works quietly in his lab and delivers results as good as anyone else. He might not be on the list of every news channel or brand looking for a brand ambassador but Rahane is highly respected by teammates, the opposition and former greats (Shane Warne, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly).
Another great thing about Ajinkya Rahane is that no one, apart from his teammates and close ones, know about what he is feeling. Whether he is asked to bat at 3 with the score 3-1 or at 7 in the 49th over when his captain prefers Ravindra Jadeja, Rahane nods in the affirmative without making any noise. To put things in a nutshell, Rahane, just like Rahul Dravid, will be a key part of the Indian cricket team over the next decade without getting noticed, which is something that totally suits him.

Tags: AB de Villiers, Ajinkya Rahane, Chris Gayles, Cricket, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, Shikhar Dhawan, Sports, Virat Kohli, World Cup