Sachin Tendulkar Advised Me To 'Enjoy The Moment': Ajinkya Rahane Recalls His Test Debut

Ajinkya Rahane made his Test debut in March 2013 against Australia and it was naturally a special moment for him. Although, Ajinkya Rahane had mixed emotions about his Test debut in Delhi, cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, waiting on the other end, had some words of advice for the fellow Mumbai batsman.

Rahane first stepped in to bat after opener Murali Vijay was sent back for 57 runs by Peter Siddle. He joined the crease with Sachin Tendulkar in the middle with the scoreboard reading 148/3. Rahane said that when he went down to bat Tendulkar told him that as a player he needs to do well on debut and every game but for now he needs to forget it and just enjoy the moment.

“I didn’t know how to react, I was feeling mixed emotions. It was, obviously, a special moment for me, but I was a bit feeling nervousness and excitement as well,” Rahane said.

“When I went down to bat, Sachin paaji was on the other side. He told me that ‘as a player, you want to do well on debut, and every game. But you need to forget all of this at this moment. Just enjoy the moment’. He gave me this advice. My debut match was not that great, but it was memorable,” Rahane said.

Rahane, however, failed to do much with the bat during the first innings as he was dismissed for seven runs by a delivery from Nathan Lyon which ended up into Steve Smith’s hand. Even in the second innings, he failed to get going as he was caught plumb by Nathan Lyon on one run.

Over the years, 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. He has scored 4203 runs in the longest format at an average over 42.