Indian Veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane revealed that his goal is to win the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai and play 100 test matches for India in the longer format of the game. The 35-year-old was dropped from the Indian test team after Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul emerged as contenders for the middle-order spot.
Ajinkya Rahane has been the redemption of the IPL 2023, as he found his way into the Indian team for the World Test Championship final following his exploits for the MS Dhoni-led side in the IPL. However, the Mumbai-born batter was unable to keep his place in India’s test team, as they invested in the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, and Shreyas Iyer with an eye on the future.
After the victory over Mumbai, Ajinkya Rahane spoke to the media about his aim of winning the Ranji Trophy for Mumbai and playing 100 test matches for his country. However, the seasoned batter wants to take one step at a time and focus on his return to the Indian team.
“My goal is to secure both the Ranji Trophy and the bigger objective of playing in 100 Test matches, I’m focused on performing well for Mumbai and taking each game one step at a time.”
Rahane’s astute captaincy was instrumental in taking the team to an outright victory on the fourth day morning, and he discussed his decision to bowl first against Andhra
“The decision was Instinctive as such opportunities are very rare, If you read the situation and sniff the opportunity for seven points…it will be helpful for you in the future as you don’t know how the wicket will be, the conditions will be, teams form in the upcoming matches…you never know what will happen.
“So yesterday, I felt like if the bowlers will push themselves a bit and if we take two-three early wickets then it will become easier for us,” Ajinkya Rahane said.
The Mumbai-born batter was dropped from the test squad after the conclusion of the South Africa series in 2022, following his string of poor performances in red-ball cricket alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, and Ishant Sharma, However, Ajinkya Rahane made a comeback for the WTC Final against Australia before being dropped from the 2023 South Africa test series.
We Are Looking To Take One Game At A Time – Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane was pleased with Mumbai’s start to the Ranji Trophy season and hopes to maintain his consistency in pursuit of the trophy. The Mumbai skipper hopes to adjust fast to conditions at home and away in order to advance to the tournament’s knockout stages.
“It’s been a very good start for us this season. The challenge is to be consistent because when you want to win the Ranji Trophy, it is all about being consistent throughout the period of time. We are looking to take one game at a time. It’s a home-away format so the conditions keep changing, so we have to be in the moment, try and see how the wickets are,” Ajinkya Rahane added.
Andhra Pradesh was bowled out for 244 runs in their second innings, while Mumbai chased down the 34-run mark target without losing a wicket. Left-arm spinner Shams Mulani recorded a superb nine-wicket haul, putting Mumbai on the verge of a major win against Andhra in their Ranji Trophy encounter.