Ajinkya Rahane Reveals How India Bounced Back from the 'Adelaide Nightmare' to Clinch Historic Test Series Win in Australia

The architect of India's incredible comeback in the 2020–21 Test series against Australia, Ajinkya Rahane, claimed that the "shattered" team recovered and won the series 2-1 thanks to a period of reflection and healing following the "Adelaide Nightmare."

The Australians knocked out India for their lowest-ever total of 36 in the day-night Test match.

However, the visitors prevailed in the Test matches in Melbourne and Brisbane in addition to drawing in Sydney, even without regular captain Virat Kohli, who had to return to India for personal reasons.

"I had to get back into the situation as soon as possible, literally forgetting about the 36 all-out. During the opening of Fortis Hospital Mulund's Sports Injury Clinic here on Friday, Rahane recounted, "We were all shattered that time, everyone was in shock, and I thought it was a bad dream."

"But ultimately, when I woke up the following day, I realized (that) it (had) actually happened (36 for nine)," stated Rahane. Rahane went on to help India level the series with an eight-wicket victory in Melbourne on Boxing Day, where he later produced a heroic century.

Rahane stated that it was critical for the Indian players to recuperate psychologically from such a defeat and that they were given time off to reflect.

"I talked to myself for a good 30 minutes before speaking with my teammates, trying to persuade myself to just be in the moment and not worry about the outcome or the result," he added.

"Your mind wanders to the past and the future and considers the result and the outcome when you lose an exam or experience anything similar. That is a typical human inclination. Rahane stated that he made the decision to put off thinking about cricket for a few days. But I had to force myself to focus, so I declared that I would not think about cricket for the next two days. We are in Adelaide, and once we get to Melbourne, we'll consider our strategy—both my and the team's,” he stated.

Rahane sent the team a similar message as well. He said, "I told the team to enjoy themselves and go wherever they wanted to go, just clear your mind, and let's not talk about cricket for the next two days. We will meet in Melbourne and we will start our journey and campaign there again."

In that series, Rahane also had to deal with the injuries of a few important players, but he claimed he enjoyed the challenge of going deep and fielding eleven healthy players each Test.

"Our focus was on approaching the series as a three-Test series starting in Melbourne, instead of considering it as a four-Test series," the player stated.

According to Rahane, it all came down to celebrating one other's victories and providing assistance during a trying time.

"Anything that occurred in Adelaide was dead, in the past, and beyond our control; as athletes, all that mattered was living in the present and celebrating each other's accomplishments." "Your mind is in the moment when you are enjoying your teammates' success, and that's how we actually started doing well from Melbourne onwards and eventually won the series," the player remarked.

Speaking about his own injury difficulties, Rahane stated that he overcame them by maintaining his mental toughness.

Pune was the site of the match, and I was representing KKR. The Grade 3 rupture in my hamstring was the result of this injury. I really ran three runs during that injury (stage), and my physio asked me afterwards, "How did you actually run those three runs?" he recounted.

It was merely a mental capacity. Because your mental condition and health are what propel you (ahead) and aid in your recovery following specific kinds of injuries, he stated.