My mind and heart tells me 2018 is going to be my year, says Ajinkya Rahane

Despite his lean run of form recently, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane was upbeat about the challenging 2018 calendar, and stated that he was only one good knock away from regaining his touch, reported Times of India.

India kick-start the new year by squaring up against the mighty South Africans in their den even without playing a practice match. Rahane said he was ready: “My mind and heart tells me 2018 is going to be my year and I’m really confident about it. I’ve always maintained that be it cricket or life, I always prefer to remain in the present. So, while it’s going to be a year of many challenges, the focus right now is on South Africa.

“Doing well there is right on the top of my mind. As far as the big picture is concerned, every day is a different day, every game is a different game.”

Bad form taught me a lot

Rahane turned philosophical when he delved deep into his woeful run of form recently. The Mumbai batsman only has two 50+ scores in his last 20 innings, “In life, we go through ups and downs, fall and then get up again. We learn to deal with things as they come, work our way through the rough patches.

“How we deal with those phases is crucial. According to me, if you give some amount of importance to the success that you’ve achieved in life, the same amount of importance needs to be given to the failures that come your way. I don’t take either of it very seriously, as long as I’m learning along the way.”

Rahane has taken the brickbats that have come his way recently with minimum fuss. Following the Sri Lanka series, the 29-year-old went back to the drawing board to work on his technique under his long-time coach Pravin Amre, “This phase has actually taught me a lot, on and off the field on how I need to go about with my cricket from here, how to remain calm when things don’t go your way. What I’m trying to do right now is to remind myself of the processes I followed when things were going my way and keep repeating them. Just make it a routine thing.

“I’ve spoken to so many of my seniors over the course of time, during good phases and the times when I’ve struggled and the common aspect to whatever they shared with me was that there’s nobody who’s got away without getting a taste of failure. It happens with everyone. The challenge is in how you overcome it. It’s about just one good innings.”

‘We respect South Africa’

Rahane is grateful about the support he has received from his teammates recently. However, it remains uncertain if would take the field for India in the first Test. “Yes, it feels so good to see how the team management has backed me all the way. Especially Virat, the coaches, the selectors ... As a player, I can’t ask for more. When the whole team is behind you, you’re never short on motivation. Runs will come, I don’t need to worry about it too much.”

Rahane, the only Indian batsman to have come out of every non-Asia tour with his reputation intact, urged his teammates to mirror their performances over the last two years, “The amount of travel an international cricketer does these days, the lines are fast blurring between what is home and what is away.

“The important thing here is to respect the opposition. We respect South Africa but at the same time, we realize, if we want to win there, the first thing we need to do is express ourselves. It is important to play with the same kind of freedom that we’ve played over the last two years.”