Cricket: Advice from masters help Rahane a ton

Ajinkya Rahane (left) received valuable advice from MS Dhoni. Photo / Getty Images

It was the stand which shut the door on New Zealand yesterday, a shared operation between the master and apprentice.

When India's captain MS Dhoni arrived at the wicket, India were 228 for six, in good shape, but still just 36 ahead of New Zealand, who were toiling hard to stay afloat. Dhoni is an old hand at this sort of situation and did what comes naturally. He went hard at Neil Wagner early, four fours in successive balls and boomed a six over long off from Tim Southee.

At the other end 25-year-old Ajinkya Rahane was playing a nicely-paced innings. His driving was fluent and he demonstrated pinpoint placement through the offside. The pair took four boundaries in nine balls and the stand had produced 120 by the time Dhoni departed for 68.

The game had been pushed to a point where one of the three possible results - excluding the always improbable tie - was off the table. At 348 for seven, the lead was 156 and with a fresh degree of comfort over the situation, Rahane was able to take charge going to his maiden century with a pulled four off Wagner. He then went on a small tear, including a six off Wagner over square leg, before Trent Boult grabbed another fine one-hander at deep cover.

Rahane's selection was seen as inevitable when he made his test debut against Australia in Delhi last March. The slightly odd thing was he'd already played 16 ODIs before then, not with conspicuous success. He was a prolific Ranji Trophy runscorer for Mumbai, has had a good mentor in the former batting great Rahul Dravid at the Rajasthan Royals.

He stays with Dravid during the Indian Premier League, which he views as his two-month training camp rather than the glitzy event others do. His test average after nine innings is already up to 47.37.

Sachin Tendulkar, his Mumbai and (briefly) Indian team-mate, gave advice he values: "During his last two tests (against the West Indies before Christmas) he said, 'I have been following you, your hard work and fitness. Just be patient and wait for your chance'," Rahane said.

As for Dhoni, "he gave me a lot of confidence. He told me to back myself and play my shots. Don't think too much and it really helped me a lot".

Rahane's personality is understated, a quiet achiever, religious, and a player who goes about his business without fuss. He has one other point in his favour. He's 25, not a bright-eyed teen rushed into the side. He has been around first-class cricket for several years, certainly long enough to have experienced the vagaries the game can throw at a player.

Just a guess, but he'll be a fixture for years to come.