My plan was to bat, bat and bat, says Ajinkya Rahane after century on County debut
Ajinkya Rahane, who became the third Indian batsman to score a century on County debut, has stated that he simply wanted to bat longer, which helped him a lot. The Indian Test vice-captain has also added that he took the help from local County players regarding the conditions and batting plans.
Rahane became only the third Indian batsman after Piyush Chawla and Murali Vijay to score a hundred on debut in County cricket. Chawla was the first to achieve the milestone in 2013 when he scored 112 for Somerset against Middlesex and Vijay achieved it in 2018 when he hit 100 off 181 balls for Essex against Nottinghamshire.
The century came on the back of dogged will-power after being excluded from India’s Test squad and Rahane, in the company of Sam Northeast, put on 257 in 61 overs, thus setting a new third-wicket partnership record for matches between Hampshire and Nottinghamshire beating the 238 added by John Crawley and Michael Clarke at Trent Bridge in 2004. Rahane is understandably happy and added that he just wanted to bat and bat.
“I am really happy with my performance. I wanted to make it count. My plan was to bat, bat and bat. I was not thinking about the runs. I just wanted to be in the middle and put my team in a good position and that worked,” Rahane told ESPNCricinfo.
Rahane had a forgettable English tour last year and with the emergence of the new crop of cricketers, it has become apparent for him to deliver on a regular basis and the County stint couldn’t have come at a better time. Rahane added that discipline was very important for a batsman in England and he discussed his plans with his Hampshire teammates.
“It (discipline) is very important here as a batsman. I have been talking to teammates about batting plans, how I need to go on and keep batting. Just had a simple game plan, to try and play as late as possible,” he added.
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