I Am Happy People Are Talking About Me: Ajinkya Rahane

Aug 24, 2021 at 2:53 PM

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I Am Happy People Are Talking About Me: Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane, India’s Test vice-captain said that he is happy that people are always talking about him, as he believes they talk about important people. This was in reply to a question on the constant scrutiny of his batting form. Ajinkya Rahane has not scored a century since his MCG 2021 heroics but has been a contributing factor here and there in India’s journey to the final of the World Test Championship’s previous edition.

He was once again under fire along with Cheteshwar Pujara after both failed to score in the first Test against England in Nottingham. However, the duo came good in the second innings of the second Test at Lord’s, adding a century stand after India had lost three early wickets. India won the Test ultimately by 151 runs on day five thanks to heroics from the India pacers and went 1-0 up in the 5-Test series.

Ajinkya Rahane [Image-Twitter]
Ajinkya Rahane [Image-Twitter]

Ajinkya Rahane And Cheteshwar Pujara Have Been Playing For Long And Know How To Handle Pressure

Ajinkya Rahane struck a vital 61 runs in 146 balls, while Cheteshwar Pujara made 45 adding 100 runs for the 4th wicket in the second innings at Lord’s. The duo battled James Anderson, Mark Wood, Sam Curran, and Ollie Robinson with gusto as the England bowlers looked to gain an advantage.

“I am happy people are talking about me, I always believe people talk about important people. I am not too concerned about that, it is all about contribution for the team. Cheteshwar and I have been playing for long, we know how to handle pressure and certain situations. We are not concerned about them, we are focusing on the team. We just want to contribute for the side, whatever we cannot control, we are not thinking about that,” said Ajinkya Rahane.

Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane (Image Credit: Twitter)

“My innings was really satisfying in the second Test, I always believe in contributions and for me, I always think about the team. That knock of 61 in the Lord’s Test was really satisfying. It was all about hanging in there, communication was all about thinking about small targets and building on from there.

“We always talk about Pujara playing slow, but his innings was really important, he batted for 200 balls. We backed each other, I thought communication was really good. We knew 170-180 could have been a very good score on that wicket,” said Rahane.

Ajinkya Rahane has 4714 runs in 76 Tests for India with 12 centuries and 24 half-centuries at an average of 40.63. His best score is 188 and he has scored a century in each innings of a Test match as well.

Ajinkya Rahane Said Playing For India Motivates Him A Lot

KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma had endured a rare failure in the 2nd innings of the 2nd Test as their opponents were disciplined and runs were at a premium. It was down to Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, two battle-hardened veterans but with increasing question marks over their heads, to settle down and forge a partnership. An hour into the second session, they added only 19 runs, the lead still only 48 and only the ‘keeper, all-rounder, and the lower-order to follow.

“It gets mentally exhausting and you [the batsman] are constantly thinking when these guys will get out and when you would go out to bat,” Rahane said of the lower-order resistance. “It has a lot of impact.

“When 7-8 wickets fall, batsmen begin to anticipate their batting. You would have seen, in slips and gully the batsmen begin shadow practising, jumps and footwork practice. You can see from outside what the batsmen are thinking. This was a great sign for us.”

Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane

The pair finally batted 297 balls between them for an addition of 100 runs. It may not seem much given England was still on top of the game when they were both dismissed on the cusp of the second new ball. But India, who was leading by 129 then, already had nine runs more than what their hosts would manage on the final day.

“Full credit to them [the bowlers]. Since the WTC finals till now, everyday they’ve batted 10-12 minutes in the nets. They’ve come on their own, that after finishing bowling they also want to spend some time batting. Hearing this, it feels great. They want to contribute, even if they add 10 runs each, we have a very good score on the board. And definitely, the opposition is affected by lower-order runs too.”

“Everything motivates me, playing for country motivates me a lot. I am not bothered about criticism. People only criticise important people, I am happy they are criticising me, I only focus on controllables. Team performance is the ultimate goal, you think about your plans and methods, but ultimately it is all for the team. We just focus on that,” Rahane added.

India will play England in the third Test at Headingley, Leeds starting on August 25.

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