Ajinkya Rahane scores ton on comeback, boosts India vs West Indies

Ajinkya Rahane scored his third ODI century on return to the Indian team against West Indies in the second ODI of the five-match series. India won the match by 105 runs.

Ajinkya Rahane returned to the India side with a brilliant century here at the Queen’s Park Oval on Sunday. This was his third ODI ton. Rahane, who has replaced Rohit Sharma in the squad for this series, followed up his 62 made in the first match here at the same venue with this century. India won the match by 105 runs. (India vs West Indies: 2nd ODI MATCH BLOG)

India's Ajinkya Rahane hits a boundary during the second One Day International (ODI) match between West Indies and India at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad. (AFP)

The Mumbai batsman who had sat out all matches in the Champions Trophy as there was no slot for him is being tried an opener here. (India vs West Indies: 2nd ODI MATCH SCORECARD)

He began in brisk fashion, picking boundaries off Alzarri Joseph. He hit one to the square leg boundary in Joseph’s first over and then in the West Indian’s next, sliced one for a six to get India going.

It was a mixture of caution and aggression from the India opener. After the brisk start, he kept the scoreboard ticking with good running between the wicket as Shikhar Dhawan took over, tearing into some ordinary bowling from the West Indian pacers.

It has been a great comeback from him as he hasn’t been a regular feature in the team for quite some time. Before this series, Rahane last played for India in an ODI in January earlier this year, failing to do anything worthwhile.

Before that, he played in four of the five ODIs in the home series against New Zealand in October last year, getting just a fifty.

If he does well throughout this series, it will be interesting to see how the India team management, led now mainly by Virat Kohli, deal with him once Rohit Sharma makes a return to the ODI squad.