It’s a new challenge: Ajinkya Rahane bracing up for stint at Delhi Capitals
Now that Rahane has made the switch, a new phase awaits the batsman, who adds further strength to a batting-heavy unit that already comprises Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer.
Ajinkya Rahane, who was traded by Rajasthan Royals to Delhi Capitals in November last year, has described his move to a new IPL franchise “challenging”. The Royals traded Rahane to DC on the final day of the trading window, making him the second high-profile signing by the Capitals after R Ashwin. Rahane had been with the Royals since 2011 and is the franchise’s most capped player having played 106 matches, six of which were Champions League games. Overall, he is Royal’s leading run-getter in IPL with 2810 runs at an average of 34.26 and strike-rate of 122.65. He even captained the Royals in 24 games, winning nine and losing 24.
Now that Rahane has made the switch, a new phase awaits the batsman, who adds further strength to a batting-heavy unit that already comprises Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw and Shreyas Iyer.
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“It’s a new challenge. I’ve played with many of the Indian players in Delhi so there already is a comfort factor, knowing so many of them. We are a good unit and looking forward to having a good season,” Rahane told Timesofindia.com.
Rahane explained how India greats Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar helped him at different stages of his career. Rahane and Dravid played together at Royals and even briefly for India (in 2011) and because of the similarity in their batting techniques, people have often drawn parallels between the two batsmen.
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“It’s always nice to be spoken about in the same sentence as Rahul Dravid,” Rahane, who has worked closely with Dravid at the Rajasthan Royals, said. “Both have been my role models for the way they played the game and for the way they are as human beings. Game wise both (of them) helped me at various stages of my career, but I always try to emulate them off the field too.”