After being dropped from the Indian Test squad last year, Ajinkya Rahane went through a domestic grind and scored plenty of runs to regain his place in the red-ball side.

While leading Mumbai, Rahane had an impressive Ranji Trophy 2022-23 season, amassing 634 runs from seven games at an average of 57.63. He also played a key role in CSK’s triumphant IPL 2023 campaign, hitting 326 runs from 11 innings at a remarkable strike rate of 172.48 with two half-centuries.

Subsequently, Rahane was recalled to the Test team for the WTC 2023 final against Australia and he registered scores of 89 and 46 in the marquee clash at The Oval last month.

As expected, Rahane retained his place in the Test side for the West Indies tour. In a surprising move, however, he was also re-appointed as the vice-captain of the team.

Ahead of the first Test against the West Indies, Rahane addressed the media and was asked about his comeback to the national team at the age of 35. The question drew a funny response from the vice-captain as he insisted that he is still young and has a lot of cricket left in him.

"What do you mean by at this age? I am still young yaar (friend). There's still a lot of cricket in me," Rahane stated.

His answer left Rohit Sharma in splits. The Indian skipper, who was listening to Rahane's responses to the journalists, bursts into laughter.

Here's the video:

Rahane, 35, further said that he has worked a lot on himself and is keen to perform for India without thinking about the future.

"I had a good IPL and domestic season. I have grown in confidence as a batter but in the past one and half year I have also worked a lot on my fitness.

"I have worked on few aspects of my batting. At the moment I am enjoying my cricket. I am not thinking too much about the future. For now every match is important for me," he remarked.

The two-match Test series between India and West Indies is slated to get underway on July 12 in Dominica.