Give Ajinkya Rahane and Co more credit

Ajinkya Rahane (centre) celebrates with teammates after Australia`s Steven Smith is dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah (second from left) on Day Three of the second Test at the MCG on Monday. Pic/Getty Images

There is a saying that Indians know how to shout with their eyes. It is of course a cultural stereotype that lends itself to clever poetry but if Ajinkya Rahane's reaction to his run-out at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was anything to go by, that myth has been shattered. His calm, dignified response was exactly what India needed at a time when a sense of deja vu must surely have been in the minds of the Indian camp. Not again-not another coincidence-the captain, batting at No. 4, top scorer, in the middle of a crucial partnership, needlessly run-out responding to a sharp single. But despite what Rahane himself may have been thinking, his unflinching demeanour did wonders for the Indian spirit. A moment of true leadership genius.

Cultural stereotypes

Speaking of cultural stereotypes, if the Australians had come back from being all out for 36, missing their talismanic, world-class captain and their senior fast bowler, the local commentators would be waxing lyrical about that famed Aussie grit, that fighting spirit, that never-say-die attitude. All of those meaningless cliches would have been thrown around, as if such human qualities had a uniquely Australian trait to them. It will be interesting to see if those same terms are used to describe one of the most courageous comebacks in Indian cricket history, easily rivalling the 1983 World Cup win or the Rahul Dravid-VVS Laxman partnership of 2001. Make no mistake-this performance, especially the second innings bowling effort sans Umesh Yadav, was as brave an effort as anything we will ever see from an Indian team on tour. I was one of those people who said openly (after the Adelaide debacle) that India would be crushed for the rest of the series. I fell for the cultural norms, believing that when the Aussies smelt blood in the water, they would rip India's heart out. How wrong I was to discount the team harmony and fighting spirit that Rahane and Ravi Shastri must have inspired in the camp.

The ball before Rahane was run out, I couldn't help but think back to a commonly held view in international cricket that whenever an Indian batsman nears a milestone, opposition teams, especially Australia, are on their toes, waiting for an opportunity. In ODI cricket, it quite often leads to a dip in strike rate when the batsman gets into the 90s. It is a known phenomenon that you can buy a few cheap dot balls during this phase because the thinking is that Indians are obsessed with milestones. It may be a fallacy but when you believe in something, often perception becomes reality. Ravindra Jadeja only served to reinforce my theory when he then sold Rahane down the river whilst trying to scramble for his 50. Coincidence it may have been but I can assure you that this is a commonly held view amongst most teams playing against India. They up their intensity during this period because they sense (perhaps unfairly) that Indians act irrationally on the cusp of a milestone. It is something that India need to be mindful of, if nothing else, to bust the myth.

What a coincidence!

This epic Test had so many coincidences. Both Indian openers out for a duck in the first over to Mitchell Starc's in-swinger. The crucial run-out of course, both Indian captains who top scored. Both Tests had crucial winning contributions from the No. 7 batsman in the first innings, Tim Paine and Jadeja. Both Tests were won by eight wickets with the last few runs coming in a rush. We might see the temporary end of Test careers for openers (Prithvi Shaw and Joe Burns).

They say that momentum is an irresistible force. India have just proved it wrong. Now they must be hoping that it is true. If Rahane is the captain of the Good Ship India, perhaps the meek will indeed inherit the earth. He is everything that Virat Kohli is not. He may not shout with his eyes but his words resonate, even in silence.

Michael Jeh is a former first-class player based in Brisbane