Windies series will be a good opportunity for youngsters, asserts Ajinkya Rahane

10/02/2018

Ajinkya Rahane has stated that the upcoming series against the Windies will be a wonderful chance for youngsters to put their skills to good use and make a permanent slot in the team. Many youngsters have found a place in the squad that was announced for the Test series against the Windies.

As many as six youngsters in the form of Mayank Agarwal, Hanuma Vihari, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Siraj and Shardul Thakur have been picked up in a squad of 15 for the Test series against the Windies. After the debacle in England, the Indian Test team is expected to have some new faces in the Squad for the upcoming Tour of Australia.

"It is a good opportunity particularly for youngsters like Prithvi, Mayank, and Siraj as they have all done well in domestic cricket. So as a batsman they can score runs, as a bowler they can pick wickets. It is all about going out there and giving your best without thinking much about future," Ajinkya Rahane said during the press conference in Rajkot.

India did not have a good tour of England where they started on a winning note by snatching the T20 series but everything went downhill thereafter. India lost the ODI and the Test series and Rahane personally too had a below-par tour with only a couple of good innings to his name.

"After coming back from England, I was just looking to do well for Mumbai at that point of time and get some match practice (although it was white ball cricket) ahead of the West Indies series. Vijay Hazare was a good match practice for me. I always believe whether it is a domestic, international or practice match, it brings a different pressure and I think it helped me to prepare. I am really confident and looking forward to do well and keep contributing towards my team," the Indian vice-captain said.

"Here we have to see how the wicket behaves, it is hot here, so we have to adapt to the conditions quickly during the practice sessions, we know the Indian conditions and we know how to go about our job and what shots to play here. England was different, so we will have to quickly mentally switch. Each and every match is equally important and we are just looking to play to our standards, rather than thinking about our opponents. It is important to start off well, we have two practice sessions before the Test match starts."

India recently went on to win the Asia Cup after beating Bangladesh in a nail-biting final. India remained unbeaten in the tournament although Afghanistan came close to beating India by tying a match.

“It was a great achievement to win Asia Cup and players, who got an opportunity there did well, but this is a new series and we can't take them lightly. We have to focus to improve our own game," said Rahane. "No matter whom we play, whether it is Australia, England or West Indies, it is important to improve our own standard. Our goal will be to play some good cricket, definitely to dominate from the first match and improvement as a batsman, as a bowler and as a team, that would be the focus," Rahane added.

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Windies series will be a good opportunity for youngsters, asserts Ajinkya Rahane

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