Having played 103 out of his 192 international matches across formats alongside him (85 under him), Chennai Super Kings batter Ajinkya Rahane didn’t hesitate from crediting captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his Indian Premier League 2023 success.
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Rahane, who has taken one and all by surprise by scoring 209 runs at an unimaginable strike rate of 199.04 across five innings this season, has put on display a transformed version of his batting in a format where people least expected him to prosper again.
To put things into a better perspective, it is worth a mention that Rahane had scored 254 runs at a strike rate of 104.53 for two different teams across the last three seasons of the IPL.
Rahane, who scored an IPL half-century after more than two years earlier in the season, bagged an IPL Player of the Match award after as many as seven years tonight.
“It is a great learning. I’ve played under Mahi bhai [MS Dhoni] for India for many years, and now, even at CSK, it has been a great learning. If you listen to whatever he says, you will more often than not perform,” Rahane told host broadcaster Star Sports Network during the post-match presentation ceremony.
Ajinkya Rahane Warns Bowlers in IPL 2023
“Clear mindset,” Rahane was quick to pinpoint one facet of batting which primarily allowed him to prosper in the ongoing 16th season of the IPL. Been away from international cricket for over a year now, the 34-year old player hasn’t let lack of top-level cricket affect his batting. Instead, him representing Mumbai in all formats of domestic cricket seems to have worked in his favour.
Rahane, who categorically mentioned his IPL 2023 knocks in a chronological order, asserted that his best is yet to come in the season. Assuming if he walks this talk in his current form, it would no longer be a surprise if the right-handed batter adds to his two IPL centuries.
“I’ve enjoyed all my knocks so far. I feel my best is yet to come,” Rahane added.
This is a really impressive transformation in T20 batting by Ajinkya Rahane. I didn’t know he had all this in his “bag”. A great lesson that transformation can take place even at a later stage once the mind is willing and the attitude follows.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) April 23, 2023
Dhoni, meanwhile, spoke on the lines of realizing a player’s potential and giving him the required freedom to let him thrive when asked about discovering this side of Rahane’s T20 batting.
