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July 2023 was the last time Ajinkya Rahane was seen in India colours. He was recalled to the Test side for the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia before he played a couple of more Test matches in West Indies.
After poor returns in the longest format in 2020, 2021 and 2022, Rahane was dropped from the team after the tour of South Africa. He averaged just 24.08 in these three years across 19 Test matches and had only four 50+ scores. He may have returned for three Tests in 2023 but his comeback didn’t last long.
Despite the selectors and the team management looking past him, Rahane revealed that the fire is still there and his target is to make a comeback to the national team once again.
“There is still fire and passion in me. I’m playing Ranji Trophy at the moment, trying to give my all to the Mumbai team. The goal is clear to make another comeback,” Ajinkya Rahane was quoted to Indian Express.
The 36-year-old is currently leading Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy. Mumbai have already reached the semi-finals and Rahane has made decent contributions with the bat, scoring 437 runs at an average of 39.72 in the ongoing season. Overall, he has played 85 Test matches and hence, he feels that he’s a lot more experienced. Moreover, he admitted he has a lot of cricket left in him and believes he is still fit enough to feature at the highest level.
“I’m more experienced, but still feel young. I’m fit enough to compete at the highest level. I never get satisfied with my game and don’t take things for granted. I feel there’s more cricket left in me. As a batsman, one can play till 40. There are players who have played till the age of 39-40. What matters is fitness. We need more experienced players, plus a few youngsters, in the team. So that they can learn,” Rahane added.
Contributions are not necessarily in the form of big hundreds: Rahane
The Mumbai-born batter thinks that big hundreds are not the only way of making contributions. He added that batting averages have dropped after COVID because of the tracks India have played on in Test cricket.
“Post Covid, there has been a drastic drop in batting averages of everyone because of the kind of pitches we played on. Only the top order has the advantage on such tracks. I am not giving excuses. I don’t have any regrets because I know whenever the team wanted me to deliver, I did. Contributions are not necessarily in the form of big hundreds, it could be a 70, 80 or 50,” the 36-year-old said.
Rahane’s only hundred since the start of 2020 came in Australia at the MCG when he struck a match-winning 112 to lead India’s fightback in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Apart from that, he got just three fifties and had four other scores in the 40s.
After the ongoing Ranji season, the focus will shift to the IPL 2025 where Rahane will join the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). There were reports that he may be one of the leading contenders to become the new KKR captain.
