Published: Apr 13, 2015, 01:16 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 13, 2015, 01:20 PM (IST)
Ajinkya Rahane has been the mainstay of Rajasthan Royals’ top order for some time now. Chasing a stiff target of 185 against Delhi Daredevils (DD), Rahane showed calmness and played made a crucial 39-ball 47. His partnership with Deepak Hooda too was extremely important and he believes that Rajasthan Royals (RR) backs youngsters like him to perform. Hooda attributes success to Dravid, RR’s trust in his abilities
“He has definitely improved his game since the last year and the confidence with which he is playing is good. He had a good domestic season and he bats confidently. Every player is important for our team. The good thing about RR is the youngsters and debutants are backed completely by the team,” Rahane said, according to iplt20.com. IPL 2015: Deepak Hooda emphasises on concentrating on ball rather than bowler
Rahane also spoke about how he went about things in the middle despite wickets falling at regular intervals at the other end. “In the last couple of years I have been able to learn a lot (about how to bat) when wickets are falling or when the opposition bowlers bowl a couple of good overs. In that situation patience is important. How well you handle those situations and remaining calm is important. The team that panics has lesser chances of winning. Of course everyone is bound to panic at some point but the lesser you do it is better,” said the stylish right-hander. RR clinch last-ball thriller against DD in Match 5 of IPL 2015
Rahane reveals how he planned his entire innings out. He said, “Initially the plan was to play positively for the first six overs. But after that the momentum shifted to their [opposition’s] side for a bit. Being the set batsman, my plan was to play as long as possible. I think the plan for me to play as long as possible was a success and then Deepak continued playing his shots from the other end. I was just trying to rotate the strike and wherever I thought there was an option to hit a boundary or six, I took the chance,” Rahane added. PHOTOS: Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals IPL 2015 Match 6 at Delhi
