Kolkata:Ajinkya Rahane has surprised everyone this time in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) due to his aggressive attitude. He gave the credit for this to the charismatic captain of Chennai Super Kings, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Rahane played a blistering inning of 71 off 29 balls against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday as Chennai won the match by 49 runs. It was his second half-century this season.Indian out-of-favour Ajinkya Rahane while talking to the media after the match said, ‘I can tell you only one thing, I really enjoyed my innings. I am very happy that we won this match. Rahane gave credit to Dhoni, saying that all he needed was a chance and India’s World Cup-winning captain gave him the chance to get back in form. He said, ‘When you play under the captaincy of Mahi Bhai (Dhoni), you get a chance to learn many things. As a batsman and cricketer, you always want to move forward.
Ajinkya Rahane said, ‘The way this format is developing, I think you have to constantly improve your skills as an individual. I have always been improving my batting. I have now been able to perform my shots because Chennai gave me this opportunity.
The 34-year-old batsman, who was dropped from the Indian Test team, was bought by Chennai in the auction for his base price of Rs 50 lakh. Rahane said, ‘The turning point was that I got a chance to play. I was really happy when Chennai Super Kings bought me. He gave me a chance to express myself.
The excellent form in the IPL has opened the door for Rahane to make a comeback in the limited overs team of India. He played the last T20 International match for India in 2016 while he has not played any ODI since 2018. His focus right now is to do well for Chennai. Rahane said, ‘Whenever someone performs well, there is a discussion about him. I am happy that people are talking good things about me and thinking about me. But my job is to live in the present and do well for Chennai.
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