Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane revealed he still tries to learn as much as he can from Rahul Dravid, the former captain and the coach of the Jaipur-based franchise.
Rahane met the India U19 and ‘A’ side when his team faced Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Garden City. Dravid expressed his jubilation on his former franchise’s success in the away game.
Dravid cannot take part in the IPL due to the Conflict of Interest clause inflicted by CoA, which states he cannot take part in the commercially based IPL, while contracted by BCCI for the coaching role.
It is the same reason why we do not see Ravi Shastri in the commentary box this time around.
“I met him in Bengaluru last week after our match against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rahul bhai was really happy to see us win the game. He told me to keep things simple and told us that we have been doing really well,” Ajinkya Rahane told Sportstarlive.
Rahane, who is yet to put up a substantial score behind him, claimed that Dravid’s management skill is something to learn a lot from.
“I still try to learn from him as a captain. When he was leading the side, I learnt a lot from him — both on and off the field — and also (loved) the way he would handle the players and the support staff,” continued the RR skipper.
Lucky that we are gelling well as a team: Rahane
While reflecting on the loss at Hyderabad in the first game, Rahane mentioned that captaining a franchise is a different ball game altogether, while feeling nervous about it.
Royals are without the services of their first choice captain Steven Smith, who is facing a one-year ban due to the ball-tampering scandal.
“In the first game, we did not get that one partnership. Hyderabad played some good cricket. Sometimes you do get nervous and as I said, captaining an IPL team is a completely different thing. I am lucky that we are gelling well as a team,” continued the A-graded player.
In conclusion, the Mumbai stroke-maker stressed on the fact that the team is doing well and he is proud to captain the bunch.
“The guys are looking really good. The players which we have been very supportive and very helpful. At the same time, they are very talented. As a captain, I am really lucky to have them as my team-mates,” concluded Ajinkya Rahane.
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