Ajinkya Rahane feels like he is the boss when he is batting
Indian cricketer, Ajinkya Rahane in an interview with The Indian Express revealed that he goes out to bat with confidence and feels like he is in charge of the situation he faces. Rahane was speaking about the evolution in his batting technique and how he made changes to the way he was batting at home.
When asked about his role as an important member of the Indian squad now, Rahane acknowledged that it was a challenge and shouldering the responsibility was helping him to tackle any particular situation. However, he quickly clarified that becoming impudent would not help.
“Obviously, it’s a challenge and I am enjoying the responsibility. When I go out to bat, I think that I’m the boss, I’m the man in-charge now…that does not mean that I’m overconfident. At the same time, respecting the situation is also important,” Rahane said.
In the Delhi Test of the India-South Africa series, Rahane scored two brilliant centuries to put India in a commanding position to win the series 3-0. In the first three Tests of the series, Rahane's performances were not impressive, to say the least.
The 27-year-old was able to work on his weaknesses and come good when it mattered most for the team. Rahane mentioned about how it was a mental thing that hindered him from performing in the first three Tests and how he worked on it to get into his batting zone.
Rahane talks about the importance of taking his career as step-by-step process and felt that his call to the Test squad happened when it had to.
“It is important to go step by step. There will be obstacles in life, but the important thing is to not take shortcuts. By doing so, you will know how to deal in crunch situations. In the beginning, I started to open for the Mumbai Ranji team, and now I am batting in the middle-order. I have learnt from batting in all these positions,” he explained.
Rahane also recognised the contribution of Virat Kohli in helping him build his innings out in the middle. Kohli and Rahane have forged a great partnership between themselves over the past few years.
In international cricket, Rahane and Kohli have scored 2118 runs between them since 2011. Three of the top five partnerships of Rahane involve Kohli, scoring more than 200 on two occasions.
“Virat and I have been involved in several partnerships in the past, and our conversation is to help each other in crucial situations. Virat is someone who will keep giving me inputs. In Australia, once I had scored 20 odd, I felt I could dominate the bowling.
“Virat asked me not to worry and said he would give me support from the other end. Even in Delhi, he told me to bat as if I was batting at the nets. He told me to keep my mind blank and not think about situation,” Rahane said.