‘Is Age Mai Matlab?’: Ajinkya Rahane Quips He’s Still Young, Says ‘Lot of Cricket Left in Him’

Having been dropped from the India Test squad last year, Ajinkya Rahane went back to domestic cricket and scored plenty of runs before leaving quite an impression for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2023. Thanks to his productive domestic and IPL season, he was recalled to the India squad for the WTC final where he top-scored for his team in the first innings with a sparkling half-century.

Expectedly, he retained his place for the West Indies tour and in a surprising move, he was handed over the vice-captaincy, again.

Rahane might be in his mid-thirties but the middle-order batter doesn’t think he’s getting old and reckons there’s lot of cricket left in him.

‘Is age mein matlab? (What do you mean by ‘at this age’?) I am still young. A lot of cricket is left in me,” Rahane said when asked about making a comeback at his age ahead of the first Test between India and West Indies.

Rahane, who turned 35 last month, says he’s worked on few aspects of his batting and fitness in the past one-and-a-half-year.

“IPL was good, my domestic season was very good. Feeling quite confident about my batting. Last one year or so I’ve worked on my fitness, worked on few points in my batting. I’m enjoying my cricket, batting. I’m not going to think much about the future. Every match is important, individually and from the viewpoint of the team,” he said.

When asked what changes he’s made in the past few months that has seen him scoring runs across formats, Rahane replied, “Nothing has changed. CSK gave me the freedom. As a player, you are given a role which you have to fulfill. My role before was to be the anchor. CSK told me to play with freedom. My game is to look for runs My belief always has been to fulfill the role given. Here I’ll fulfill the role given to me by Rohit Sharma.”

When asked about how it felt to be the vice-captain, he said, “I am used to this role. I was vice-captain for four-five years in the past but I’m really happy to be back in the team. Really happy to be back in the role too.”

The first Test starts from July 12.