Ajinkya Rahane Recalls 'Success Mantra' Rahul Dravid Gave Him For T20s

Ajinkya Rahane has developed himself as a dependable batsman in the longest format. His current forms has not been up to the mark, though he remains an integral part of the Test squad. Ajinkya Rahane has scored 4203 runs in the longest format at an average over 42 and will be crucial in India’s tour Down Under in December.

Rahane has played under the mentorship of Rahul Dravid for Rajasthan Royals. He was bound to take some tips from the Test great. He had been reliable for the Jaipur outfit before being traded to Delhi Capitals.

The Mumbai batsman said that Dravid had advised him not to think about how the shots look in T20 format as it does not matter. The former India captain had advised Rahane just to see the ball and hit it.

“Sometimes the shots you play in T20s don’t look good and you feel that you got out on a bad looking shot. But Rahul bhai told me not to bother about what the shots look like in T20, whether it’s a bad shot or looks bad from outside,” Rahane told former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta on ESPNCricinfo’s chat show ‘Cricetbaazi’.

“He said it does not matter. He said in T20 cricket, one needs to just watch the ball and hit it. What matters is what is the impact of the shot, that’s it,” the batsman added.

Rahane has an experience of playing 196 T20s, where he has scored 4988 runs at an average of nearly 30. He also has a strike-rate of nearly 120 in the format. In the IPL, he has played 140 matches and averages nearly 33.