Ajinkya Rahane Reveals Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid And Roger Federer As His Role Models

Ajinkya Rahane has been one of the shining lights of the Indian middle-order, alongside Cheteshwar Pujara and captain Virat Kohli, ever since he made his Test debut against Australia back in March 2013.

With the onslaught of the global pandemic that is the coronavirus [COVID-19], the entire world is locked up and with so much of free time on their hands, cricketers are resorting to engage in Instagram Live sessions. Ajinkya Rahane recently took part in a live session with his employer ‘Indian Oil’ where he opened up on a variety of topics including his role models.

The Indian vice-captain revealed that the batting legends Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar along with Tennis maestro Roger Federer are his role models and meeting the multiple-time Grandslam champion during the 2015 Australian Open was a fanboy moment for him.

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Important to stay mentally positive in these times- Ajinkya Rahane

With no cricket taking place due to the contagion coronavirus, which has almost more than 1.5 lakh lives globally, Ajinkya Rahane said that it is important for any cricketers right now to be mentally positive as according to him cricket is more of a mental game.

“(At) this point of time, it is important to be positive mentally. Mentally, I’m visualising my cricketing stuff, batting. As an international athlete, cricketer, it is important to be mentally fit,” said Ajinkya Rahane.

And, while the entire world is in lockdown, Rahane is still seeing the positive side of it, as it has given him an opportunity to spend some quality time with his family and more importantly his six-and-a-half months old daughter.

“First of all, definitely this is a sad thing, which is happening. But, looking at the positive side, I’m getting time to spend with my daughter and family. My daughter is six-and-a-half months old, I’m lucky to be with her,” the right-handed batsman added.

The recently concluded season was a reincarnation of sorts for Ajinkya Rahane. After having endured two lackluster years where he couldn’t manage a single century in Test cricket, the Indian vice-captain came back with a bang and emerged as the second-highest run-getter for the team. In nine Tests, Rahane racked up 715 runs at an average of 59.58 which also included two hundreds and five half-centuries.

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