Rahane: 'I still try to learn from Rahul Dravid'

India cricketer Ajinkya Rahane who is captaining the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL remembers the lessons learnt from his mentor.

Rajasthan Royals skipper Ajinkya Rahane at a training session at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.

 

This has been a season of promotion for Ajinkya Rahane. The India international — who represents Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League — was made captain of the franchise after Steven Smith was ruled out following his involvement in the ball-tampering saga in Cape Town last month.

Stepping up, Rahane has been able to deliver the goods. He guided the Royals to two wins in three games. But then, he doesn't want to be swayed away with success and believes it’s important to keep things simple. He learnt that from his old mentor and the erstwhile Royals skipper, Rahul Dravid.

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“I met him in Bengaluru last week, after our match against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rahul bhai was really happy to see us win the game. He told me to keep things simple and told us that we have been doing really well,” Rahane told Sportstar , on the sidelines of a training session, at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Tuesday.

While he missed the presence of Dravid, Rahane indicated that he tries to emulate things that he learnt from the veteran. "I still try to learn from him as a captain. When he was leading the side, I learnt a lot from him — both on and off the field — and also (loved) the way he would handle the players and the support staff. At the end of the day, it is your responsibility to convey your message to each and every individual," Rahane added.

It has been challenging for Rahane to replace Smith as skipper and he indeed looked nervous in the first couple of games. “In the first game, we did not get that one partnership. Hyderabad played some good cricket. Sometimes you do get nervous and as I said, captaining an IPL team is a completely different thing. I am lucky that we are gelling well as a team.

“The guys are looking really good. The players which we have are very supportive and very helpful. At the same time, they are very talented. As a captain, I am really lucky to have them as my team-mates,” he said.

The captain will hope to maintain momentum.