Senior batter Ajinkya Rahane, who made his comeback to the Test team in the WTC 2023 final, endured failures on the tour of West Indies in July last year and was not considered for the recently held two-Test series in South Africa.

The right-hander has failed to make the cut in India’s squad for the first two Tests of the upcoming five-match series against England as well.

Despite the setbacks, Rahane remains in high spirits and he is still keen to reach the milestone of playing 100 Tests for India.

The 85-Test veteran is currently leading Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy and it shows his commitment to the game.

"My goal is to secure both the Ranji Trophy and the bigger objective of playing in 100 Test matches," Rahane told reporters after Mumbai's comprehensive 10-wicket victory over Andhra.

"I'm focused on performing well for Mumbai and taking each game one step at a time."

Rahane missed out on Mumbai’s Ranji opener against Bihar due to a neck injury. The match against Andhra was his first of the tournament and he bagged a golden duck in the only innings that he batted.

Nonetheless, Mumbai have won both their games so far and Rahane is happy with the team’s overall performance.

"It's been a very good start for us this season. The challenge is to be consistent because when you want to win the Ranji Trophy, it is all about being consistent throughout the period of time,” the Mumbai skipper stated.

"We are looking to take one game at a time. It's a home-away format so the conditions keep changing. We have to be in the moment, try and see how the wickets are," he added.

(With PTI inputs)