Emotional Ajinkya Rahane opens up on his family's contribution in his comeback in Indian whites

Ajinkya Rahane will make his comeback after 18 months in the international cricket.

In the World Test Championship Final against Australia at The Oval, team India’s middle order batter Ajinkya Rahane will be making his comeback in Indian whites. Rahane after a successful IPL 2023 and Ranji Trophy in the 2022-23 season, has earned a call-up after 18 months. Ajinkya Rahane will be taking charge at his usual number 5 batting position. Shreyas Iyer’s injury has also proven in favour of Ajinkya Rahane’s comeback. Rahane has now talked about his time away from Indian cricket. Rahane while talking to BCCI.tv has expressed that his family has been the biggest motivation for him during his tough time. 

Rahane acknowledges his friends and family

35-year-old Ajinkya Rahane will be taking responsibility in India’s middle order in the WTC final against Australia. Ajinkya Rahane was dropped from the Indian squad after the South Africa tour in January 2022. Talking about that phase Rahane said, “It was an emotional moment for me, when I got dropped the support from my family was massive. The dream was to still play for India and that’s what I told my family. I worked hard on fitness, my game plan, and everything”. Ajinkya Rahane did a great performance in Ranji Trophy as well, scoring close to 634 runs in 7 games. 

Talking about his time in Ranji Trophy, Rahane said, “Went back to domestic cricket, had a very good season for Mumbai and when I got the call, the moment was really emotional for me and my family as they backed me a lot. They support me a lot to go through that period”. He further added, “You have to grow as a cricketer as a person every single day, no matter whether you do well or not. I thought the contributions from everyone, my family, friends, and that contribution was massive”. 

Ajinkya Rahane had a brilliant IPL season as well. He has batted in unlike Rahane's manners to smash fast bowlers all over the park. Rahane has also improvised massively on his batting during the entire IPL 2023. With his aggressive approach, Rahane scored 326 runs in 11 innings with a strike rate of 172.48. He smashed 24 fours and 16 sixes in the entire season. His game in the IPL made a huge impact on reviving his international career.