Ajinkya Rahane had a calming influence on the dressing room in the absence of regular captain Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin emphasised after India’s victory inside four days to level the series.
The Rahane-led side showed resilience to bounce back and effect an extraordinary turnaround after the Adelaide loss.
“Getting bowled out for 36 (in the opening Test) and then coming into this game was never going to be easy. We are quite a proud cricketing country and losing Virat was a bit of a setback,” the off-spinner told 7 Cricket.
“But we stuck on really well. Jinks’ (Rahane’s nickname) calmness in the dressing room really provided us that stability to go out there and express ourselves in this game.”
So pleased was Ashwin with this eight-wicket victory that his wife Prithi said she had “never seen him this happy” before.
“I have seen/ spoken to Ashwin after every Test he has played and after a lot of wins.
“But I have never seen him this happy, satisfied and light (can I say?) with a smile in his eyes in almost 10 years,” Prithi Ashwin tweeted.
Individually too, Ashwin had a pretty good game at the MCG, picking up crucial wickets, including those of Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne in the first and second innings, respectively.
“Coming down to Australia and if you cannot get Smith out, it is always going to be an uphill task,” the 34-year-old said.
