Rahul Dravid advised me not to bat long in the nets during Australia tour, reveals Ajinkya Rahane
Rahane scored a match-winning century in Melbourne
|Ajinkya Rahane has revealed that it was Rahul Dravid’s advice of not batting for long, which made it easy for the Mumbaikar during the Australia tour. He also added that before the series began, Dravid had called him to insist to not take any kind of pressure in Virat Kohli’s absence.
Since his retirement from world cricket, Rahul Dravid has been actively involved in helping the Indian cricket grow, starting from the age-group teams. Post that, his role as the Director of Cricket Operations at the National Cricket Academy has led to a lot of fruitful events for the country’s cricketing progress. In addition to that, the former right-handed batsman has also been in constant contact with some of the cricketers, advising them before a tough tour.
Throwing light on that, India’s stand-in skipper during the Australian tour, Ajinkya Rahane revealed that it was Dravid’s advice which changed the tour for him. He opened up that the stalwart had advised him not to bat long in the nets, which in turn helped him ease a bit of pressure Down Under.
"Rahul bhai actually called me before the series, when we were leaving to Australia from Dubai. He said, 'Don't take any stress, I know you are leading the team after the first Test. Don't worry about anything, just be strong mentally. Don't bat a lot in the nets', (which is) unlike Rahul bhai," Ajinkya Rahane told commentator Harsha Bhogle in an interaction, reported TOI.
Rahane’s influence on the game came under the scanner in the first Test at Adelaide Oval, where he was involved in the run-out to send back on song Virat Kohli before the infamous collapse in the second innings. However, since that, Rahane swiftly turned his fortunes around putting up scores - 112, 27, 22, 4, 37, 24 - to help India win the series 2-1.
"Rahul bhai loves batting, and he was like 'that's the mistake I did'. He said, 'don't bat a lot in the nets, your preparation is really good, you're batting so well. So, don't take any pressure. Just think about how you are going to lead the team, how you are going to give confidence to the players. Don't worry about the result, it will take care of itself'. That conversation really made it easy -- Rahul bhai telling me to not bat a lot in the nets. It was really good," he added.
