"I Was Playing As Anchor, CSK Told Me...": Ajinkya Rahane On His Transformation

Veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane will be donning the vice-captain's hat in India's Test series against West Indies. The two-match assignment will kick-start on July 12 at Windsor Park in Dominica. A few months back, the 35-year-old batter was not even in the scheme of things after he was dropped from the Test team in January 2022. However, a successful stint in the recent edition of the IPL for the Chennai Super Kings, completely changed his fortune and paved his way back into the national team.

During the IPL, he was named in India's squad for the World Test Championship final against Australia, which was played in June. However, the Rohit Sharma-led team ended up on the losing side but Rahane emerged as India's highest scorer with a total of 135 runs. 

Ahead of the series opener against West Indies, Rahane shared his experience of playing for CSK and how the team gave him freedom and helped in focusing on his natural game. 

"I was given a role. I was earlier playing as an anchor. CSK told me to play my natural game. My natural game involves a lot of strokeplay and looking out for runs. Here, I will fulfill whatever role what Rohit (Sharma) gives me," said Rahane during the pre-match press conference. 

Rahane had a solid IPL 2023, where he unleashed a never seen avatar of him which took attack to the bowlers from ball one. In 11 innings, he scored 326 runs at an average of 32.60 and a strike rate of 172.48. He had two half-centuries, including a knock of 71* in just 29 balls.

The vice-captain said that he likes playing under skipper Rohit Sharma, someone with whom he has played a lot of domestic cricket.

"I like playing under Rohit. The WTC final was my first match under Rohit. He gives everyone freedom and backs them. This is a good sign of a captain. My equation was him is really nice," he added.

India's all-format tour to West Indies will start on July 12 with a two-Test match series. This will also kickstart India's ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 cycle. 

(With ANI Inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team Chennai Super Kings West Indies Cricket Team Ajinkya Rahane Rohit Sharma West Indies vs India, 2023 Cricket