Every ton is special, says Ajinkya Rahane

A century at Lord’s is the stuff of dreams but in his own understated way, Ajinkya Rahane downplayed his knock and also pointed a light towards the top-order and the tail.

“Every hundred is special, be it at Wellington or at Lord’s. But yes it is special to do this at Lord’s. I also want to thank the top-order — Vijay, Pujara and Kohli. They played through a crucial phase and watching them bat, I gained confidence,” India’s century maker said on Thursday.

Rahane expressed his satisfaction over scoring his runs on a challenging pitch.

“Till the end the ball was doing something. It was good to get this hundred on this pitch,” he said and then elaborated upon the way he constructed his innings: “I was thinking play as close as possible and after 25 to 35 runs, I took my chances.”

The low-profile batsman lauded Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s effort. “I had a good partnership with Bhuvneshwar and from the non-striker’s end I was learning from him. I asked Bhuvi if I could take a single and he said he is comfortable. He is such a confident guy now and I completely trust him. Ishant (Sharma) and (Mohammed) Shami can get 25 to 30 quick runs and it is going to be difficult for the England batsmen as well. Our bowlers will do well,” Rahane said.

And as for clues to batting with the tail, Rahane said he drew inspiration from the likes of Michael Hussey, M.S. Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

Meanwhile, Ben Stokes expressed admiration over the way Rahane batted. “It was frustrating but the Indian tail and especially Rahane batted well,” Stokes said.