London, June 9: As he returned to action in the longest form of the game after a gap of more than a year, experienced middle-order batter Ajinkya Rahane achieved a milestone — becoming the 13th Indian batter to score 5000 or more runs in Test cricket.
Rahane, who played his last Test against South Africa at Cape Town in January 2022, struck a half-century to rescue India from a precarious 151/5 at the end of the second day’s play in the World Test Championship Final against Australia at The Oval here.
The 25-year-old from Maharashtra, who was batting on 29 overnight, completed his half-century off 92 deliveries and went on to share a vital partnership of 109 runs for the seventh wicket with all-rounder Shardul Thakur
At the end of the opening session on Day 3, Rahane was batting on 89 off 122 deliveries. Though he got out soon after the resumption of play, without adding any run to his score, Rahane had already done a great job by helping India escape from what could have been an embarrassing situation.
Rahane, who made his debut against Australia in March 2013 in New Delhi, reached the 5000-run milestone in his 83rd Test and joins the list that includes Sachin Tendulkar (15921), Rahul Dravid (13265), Sunil Gavaskar (10122), VVs Laxman (8781), VirenderSehwag (8503), ViratKohli (8430), SouravGanguly (7212), CheteshwarPujara (7168), DilipVengsarkar (6868), MohdAzharuddin (6215), GR Viswanath (6080) and KapilDev (5248).