‘I want to let my bat do the talking because my best is yet to come’: Ajinkya Rahane
Ajinkya Rahane emerged as a batter transformed at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Batting at a strike rate of 244.83, he scored 71 in just 29 balls as the Chennai Super Kings racked up 235/4 in 20 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders. Rahane’s rampaging innings took his team to a match-winning total and helped CSK thrash his old team KKR 49 runs.
Reflecting on his performance, the 34-year-old said that he is enjoying his current phase and wants to let the bat do the talking.
“I really enjoyed my knock, but I feel my best is to come. I really want to continue this form,” he said in the post-match press conference.
Going..Going..GONE 💥
Which was your favourite shot from @ajinkyarahane88’s magnificent knock tonight? #TATAIPL | #KKRvCSK pic.twitter.com/VLSa7XQ6NB
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 23, 2023
Incidentally, when Rahane played for KKR last season, he could only score 133 runs in the seven matches that he played. His strike rate was also below 105. But this season, he is a man transformed.
Rahane also did not shy away from crediting captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his success this season. At the same time, he also highlighted how he is thriving on the freedom he has been getting at CSK.
“I am finally getting a chance to play. If you see one or two years back, I was not getting a chance to play. If I can’t play consently then how will I show how I can play and what shots I have in my arsenal,” said Rahane before adding, “I want to be in the moment, live in the present and take it one match at a time. I want to let my bat do the talking.”
Rahane, who reached his 50 in 24 balls and scored 21 off the last five deliveries he faced, also hit five sixes as well as six fours overall.
But it was not all brute power and throwing his bat at everything. Some of the shots he played were proper cricketing shots with subtle dollops of improvisation.
“For me it is all about timing the ball and playing proper cricketing shots,” said Rahane.
“It is about backing my game rather than trying to copy someone else. It is important to back one’s own method,” he concluded.
Earlier in the tournament, Dhoni had talked about Rahane: “Me and Jinks [Rahane] spoke right at the start and he was like ‘what are you looking for me and I told him what I had in mind. I told him to play to his strengths. He is not someone who will consently hit sixes but you can use your ability to manipulate the fields. He is very sound technically. I told him to go and enjoy, don’t take stress and we’ll back you.”
Not everything has been without controversy though. Earlier in the tourney, Virender Sehwag had talked about Dhoni-Rahane and he saw the issue differently.
“What did he see in Ajinkya Rahane that he kept him in the IPL team, but didn’t play him for India?” Sehwag asked on Cricbuzz.
“Players need confidence. But I’m asking captain Dhoni. When he was the captain of the Indian team, he didn’t keep him in the one-day team, saying ‘he is slow. He can’t rotate strike’. Now, suddenly, when he needed experience, he brought in Ajinkya Rahane,” Sehwag said.
