Ajinkya Rahane, from the by-lanes of Dombivli to Team India's skipper

Mumbai: No fuss when asked to float around in the batting order. No unnecessary drama when falsely given out. No shuffles across the crease to clear the ground and no nasty swipes towards his opponents even during some of the most heated environments.

Ajinkya Rahane, for many, is a throwback to an older generation than being a contemporary to a generation where even a slightest of altercation comes with a suffix ‘gate’ and when a 50-run knock in T20 is rated to be the greatest innings ever played.

While he could not score a ton in the World Cup 2015 and was sidelined for the last two games during the ODI series against Bangladesh, he has now made a mark after being appointed as the skipper of the Indian cricket team which will travel to Zimbabwe for the three ODIs and two T20s.

Although he is not a speaker by the definition of the term, his ever present modesty and calmness would speak a great deal about the man who has scored a chunk of runs as he stepped up the ladder in cricket.

So much so that even the most volatile personality of the Indian cricket team, Virat Kohli, admires him. While the comparisons are still too premature but a reference point can be that of Sachin Tendulkar praising Rahul Dravid. Call it a categorisation or just the way sport or life tries to find its point of reference.

(Photo: Screengrab)

Although MS Dhoni recently criticised Rahane for his struggle to get going on the slower wickets, the India’s World Cup winning skipper has appreciated Rahane’s contribution and how he has developed as a cricketer.

"Irrespective of the format, he has really improved. He is definitely one of the individuals who is not really rigid. He is quite open to ideas. He is quite open to try new things, and once he tries it out, he gives you a good response as to whether it's working or not working for him.”

“He is one of the fittest guys. You see him in the field, he is one of the quickest guys and his intensity never drops; right from the first over to the 90 th over, if you see a Test match which for me fitness is all about,” says Dhoni.

While by Rahane’s own admission his black belt is one of the reasons towards him staying fit, it may well be thanks to the hardships he witnessed in the earlier stages of life, where carrying a cricket kit from Dombivli to CST, which takes around an hour by fast train and twenty minutes more if one gets into the slow local, played its part building his patience.

While his father wanted him to take up cricket, any sport for that matter, just to make sure that Rahane and his siblings don’t get addicted to TV, his son’s progress shall make him really proud without a slightest of arrogance.

Maybe that’s where Rahane gets his composure from. He does not fall in the category of ‘let me quickly impress you’. But in a period where being humble and understated are often looked at as vehicles of short-selling oneself, he comes across as a welcome relief for those who still firmly believe that nice guys do finish at the top.