Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ajinkya Rahane had an excellent debut for the yellow army against Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 8 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in the ongoing IPL 2023. He scored a brilliant 61 in 27 balls.
CSK was asked to chase 158-run target and then lost Devon Conway for a duck in the first over itself. Then Ruturaj Gaikwad (40*) and Ajinkya Rahane hammered the MI bowlers all over as veteran Mumbai batter reached his half-century in 19 balls.
In the end, Shivam Dube (28) and Ambati Rayudu (20*) finished off the game with 7 wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare.
Rahane was not supposed to start the game but an injury to Moeen Ali gave him an opportunity.
“There is still a long way to go. Today, I was not sure about my place in the eleven. I got to know just before the toss, for me it is about playing one game at a time and staying in the moment. Anything can happen. Today, I was not sure about my game. For me, I will never give up. It is about playing with enjoyment and passion.
Whatever format I play, it is about giving my best every time, rather than thinking about the future, (things) which is not in my hand, not in my control, for me it's all about giving my best every time and be as positive as possible and whenever I get an opportunity I should be ready for that,” Rahane told the media on Saturday night.
Rahane was dropped from the Test team following the tour of South Africa in January 2022 and dropped a subtle hint to the Indian team selectors.
"I always enjoy playing at Wankhede. I have never played a Test here. I would want to play a Test here," said Rahane.
The 34-year-old said the knowledge of his home ground helped him play the way he did.
“I just got to know before the toss that I am playing. Unfortunately, Moeen was unwell. I know this wicket really well, have got an idea how the wicket was playing or how the ball was behaving, that helped me.
When I went in, it was about playing my normal game. The intent was really good. My preparation was really good, we had a really good camp before coming here, had a good domestic season, batting wise I was feeling really good. I am happy that I did really well and we won the game,” he added.
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Mumbai Indians head coach Mark Boucher said it was Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner's spin bowling that hurt his side more than Rahane's knock.
“It is difficult to look at our bowlers and their batters when we have not got enough runs on the board. In a game of T20 cricket especially now that you have got impact players. We had seven frontline batters today for us to get but 157/8 was not good enough. With that start (61/1 in six overs) we probably should have got 180-190 and then we could have judged our bowling,” Boucher said.
“Rahane played some good cricketing shots. But I think it is more about the bowling that did us at the end of the day. The bowling hurt us more than Rahane's batting,” he added.
(PTI inputs)
