Ajinkya Rahane celebrates century on reaching 97; Suresh Raina gestures three runs to go - Watch
A scoreboard error caused Ajinkya Rahane to celebrate his ton even before he actually crossed the three-figure mark during the final of the Deodhar Trophy between India C and India B at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.
Openers Rahane and Ishan Kishan slammed respective tons to help India C clinch the title by beating India B by 29 runs. For the defending champions, Shreyas Iyer slammed a ton as well but it went in vain as Rahane lifted the trophy for India C in the end.
But during the course of his unbeaten innings, Rahane thought he had completed his century and raised his bat to acknowledge the support of the crowd. But in reality, he was three runs short of the magical three-figure mark and his celebrations were cut short by teammate Suresh Raina, who gestured from the dressing room.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) uploaded the video on social media and their post read: “Just for laughs - This happened today in the Deodhar Trophy final. @ajinkyarahane felt he got a 100, @sureshraina3 said there were 3 more to go.”
Ajinkya Rahane’s credentials as a limited-overs batsman have never been in doubt. His 106 against England in Birmingham in 2014 and 79 against South Africa at Melbourne in the 2015 World Cup underline his value playing overseas.
However, since his 2011 debut, he hasn’t had a settled ODI spot and finds himself on the sidelines. With skipper Virat Kohli making his confidence in Ambati Rayudu as No 4 for the next year’s World Cup clear, Rahane’s hopes don’t look bright.
Having decided his team will bat first in the Deodhar Trophy final at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground on Saturday, opener Rahane scored a magnificent 144* as India C got the better of defending champions India B.
Once India C amassed 352/7, with young Ishant Kishan’s 114 (87 b, 11x4, 6x6) and his 210-run opening stand with Rahane (156 b, 9x4, 3x6) setting it up, India A skipper Shreyas Iyer’s century (148 off 114 balls) alone wasn’t going to be enough as his team was 323 all out in 46.1 overs.