India vs Australia: Rahane receives medal in honour of aboriginal player

Bengaluru, December 30: Ajinkya Rahane, who was the man of the match in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne received the newly created Mullagh Medal.

Rahane, who was leading the side in regular skipper Virat Kohli's absence led from the front to score a match-winning hundred in the second Test at MCG to level the four-match series 1-1.

The medal was created in honour of Johnny Mullagh -- one of the stars of Australia's pioneering all-Aboriginal team that toured England in 1868 -- who became the first Aboriginal player inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

Mullagh, also known by the traditional name Unaarrimin, was a Jardwadjali man from what is now the state of Victoria and learned to play cricket on a nearby farm.

He is considered one of the best players of his era, appearing in 45 of 47 matches during the first Australian cricket tour of England. He scored 1698 runs at an average of 23.65 and took 245 wickets at 10.

Mullagh also played in the third cricket match ever scheduled at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day in 1866 for the Aboriginal and TW Wills XI against the Melbourne Cricket Club.

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"Johnny Mullagh and the 1868 Aboriginal team paved the way for so many future Australians to showcase their skill and talent on the world stage," said Hall of Fame chairman Peter King.

"To consider the team's feats were in an era dictated by inequality, makes their story even more remarkable and worthy of recognition."

Mullagh is the 55th player inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame, joining greats such as Don Bradman, Shane Warne and Dennis Lillee.

(With inputs from Agencies)