Chants of ‘aala re aala Ajinkya aala’ headlined a red carpet welcome for Ajinkya Rahane on his triumphant return from Australia with some other teammates but the mood was sombre in Hyderabad as one of his warriors, Mohammed Siraj, headed straight to his father’s grave.

The chants [meaning here comes our Ajinkya] were heard amid the beating of the traditional dhol tasha and showering of flower petals at Rahane’s residential complex.