The first Test match between West Indies and India is all set to commence on July 12. Prior to the series opener, when India's vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was asked about his comeback to the Test team at the age of 35, he seemed to be irked by the question and hit back at the reporters at the pre-match press conference. Notably, Rahane made his way back into the squad for the ICC World Test Championship and played a couple of gritty knocks in the match to earn his designation as the vice-captain of the side for the West Indies Tests.
"What do you mean by at this age? I am still young yaar (friend). There's still a lot of cricket in me," the 35-year-old told the media.
"I had a good IPL and domestic season. I have grown in confidence as a batter but in the past one and half year I have also worked a lot on my fitness," he added.
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Rahane has previously led India in the absence of Virat Kohli, most famously in Australia where India went on to recover from 36 all out to beating the Kangaroos at their home. However, following his poor run run of form he was dropped but after a good season in domestic cricket and IPL, he made his way back into the team.
"I have worked on few aspects of my batting. At the moment I am enjoying my cricket. I am not thinking too much about the future. For now every match is important for me," he stated.
"In the IPL, CSK has given me freedom. As a player when you have been given a role, you try to fulfil it. Before this in the IPL my role was to be an anchor but CSK team management gave me the freedom and they wanted me to play my natural game," Rahane, who scored 326 runs at a strike rate of 172.49 in IPL 2023, said at the presser.
"I am a natural stroke player. So just my role has changed. I always look to fullfill the role assigned to me and here also I will look to fullfill the role that Rohit gives me," he added.