Ajinkya Rahane who had a staler IPL 2023 is confident about his form going in the series against West Indies. Rahane (35) who was dropped from the team after the tour of South Africa last year has been in great form since then as he scored 884 runs in 16 innings at an average of 59,83 with three hundred a half-century from September 2022 till February 2023.
Rahane confident about himself against West Indies
This was followed by an impressive performance in the IPL where he batted with a strike rate of 170 at number three for CSK helping his team to win its fifth IPL title.
A recall to the national side was on the cards for Rahane and it did come when the right-hander was included in the squad for the WTC final against Australia where he scored valuable 89 runs helping the team stage a mini fightback against the Aussies after India lost early wickets. He along with Shardul added 100 runs for the seventh wicket giving the Indian total some sort of respectability.
Rahane, the vice-captain of the team is confident about his batting abilities. In the words of Rahane “I’m still young and there’s a lot of cricket left in me. In the last one year or so, I have worked a lot on my fitness” Rahane sounded confident while addressing reports after India’s training session was cut short due to rain.
Impact of IPL on Rahane’s batting
When asked if there has been any change in his career following his stint with Chennai Super King the Mumbai-based bater said “Nothing has changed, CSK gave me a role, and you try to fulfill that role. Prior to that, my role was of an anchor, [and] I played according to that.”
Rahane Praises Yashaswi Jaiswal and the pace attack
Rahane who captained young sensation Yashaswi Jaiswal in the 2022-23 domestic season praised the left-hander. Rahane said, “My message will be to go out there and express himself, and not think too much about international cricket. It’s about playing with freedom”. Jaiswal has been in terrific form in domestic cricket as he averages 80.21 in 26 innings which also includes a double century in the Iran Cup earlier this year.
The Indian pace attack for this tour consists of some new faces like Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, and Jaydev Unadkat who will be fighting for the lone spot as the third seamer in the team.
But Rahane is confident about the team’s pace attack. According to him. “Siraj is there as a senior bowler, [and] Jaydev has a lot of experience. The other two guys [Shardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini] are pretty much experienced, so it’s an opportunity”
