Ajinkya Rahane said he enjoys opening the batting in the shortest format but he is also ready to explore a potential "finisher's role" with Delhi Capitals having several options at the top of the order during the upcoming Indian Premier League in the UAE.
Once Virat leaves, Rahane would be leading the Indian side for the remaining three Test matches.
Stand-in skipper, Rahane's patient 112 paved the way for India taking a substantial 131-run first innings lead against Australia, who were reduced to 133 for six by the end of the third day's play on Monday.
Ajinkya Rahane, who has been axed for the upcoming three-match T20 series against Australia, on Monday said that he respects the decision taken by the team management and the selectors.
Mumbai play their first game of the 2019-20 Ranji Trophy season against Baroda in Vadodara from December 9.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju on Saturday donated a month's salary over and above Prime Minister Narendra Modi's directive to all BJP MPs to contribute Rs one crore from MPLAD funds in the country's fight against COVID-19 pandemic.
With a "no-vacancy" sign plastered on India's top order and his utility in the middle questioned by his own captain, Ajinkya Rahane suddenly finds his consistency with the bat means very little. The 27-year-old Mumbai batsman has forced his way into the final 15 for next month's World Twenty20 on home soil but is unlikely to play a major role in the hosts' bid for a second 20-over World title under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The left-right combination of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have locked up the opening slots, followed by batting mainstay Virat Kohli and limited-overs specialist Suresh Raina. An industrious accumulator in a lineup teeming with swashbuckling power-hitters, Rahane can only hope for a middle order slot but Dhoni, forthright as ever, has virtually dismissed the possibility. Dhoni insists Rahane, as evident from his consistent performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 competition, is at his best as an opener and lacks the muscle power to excel as a lower-order slogger.
'The point is that if as a player I have always played for the team, then I deserve chances more consistently. That's the least I am asking.'
The Capitals, which finished third last year, will start their campaign against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday and both Ponting and skipper Shreyas Iyer agreed that R Ashwin and Rahane have been great additions to the young side with their experience.
After waiting nearly three years for a first-class hundred, Iyer's form has surged; his century in October broke that dry spell, and now he's added two more in quick succession.
'We don't want to confuse him, he is in a happy space and he knows whenever someone is not going through a good phase or there is an injury, he is there, right at the door steps waiting to play a game whenever the team requires him to'
Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were part of India's Test team till earlier this year, but were left out of the tour to South Africa, the selectors pinning hopes on youngsters Shubman Gill and Yashawi Jaiswal to produce the goods in challenging conditions.
Ajinkya Rahane, who has not scored a hundred in more than two years, got back among the runs with a patient innings of 54.
India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane said criticism that the team does not play the short-ball well does not hold merit.
Aiden Markram stroked a half-century to steer Sunrisers Hyderabad to a comfortable six-wicket victory against Chennai Super Kings.
However, Pujara is confident that Rahane is only one innings away from regaining his lost touch.
BCCI president Anurag Thakur and India players Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey visited the 124 Sikh Battalion Territorial Army headquarter in New Delhi. After interacting with the jawans, the players also played cricket with the kids of army officers. "I thoroughly enjoyed playing a knock with the children. It is great to see the enthusiasm of these kids and I would like to wish them best of luck for all their future endeavors," Rohit Sharma said.
David Miller's outstanding fielding effort earned Gujarat Titans an early wicket.
'His role as an opener will be equally crucial. He is the guy you want to play in Australia. I remember ODI series in 2008 and he was new but did quite well on Australian pitches. He will be raring to go after the injury.'
Jasprit Bumrah will have to squeeze every ounce of energy from his already overworked body, while Ajinkya Rahane will hope to get one final chance to save his international career when India take on England in the fifth and final Test, chasing a historic series win, in Manchester on Friday.
India's captain Ajinkya Rahane on Monday said the racial abuse faced by his teammates Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj during the third Test against Australia in Sydney is not at all acceptable and should not happen anywhere in the world.
'We had two good practice sessions, actually four, but two with pink ball -- one during the day and one under lights. It was actually exciting'
Rahane spoke about how he channelised his energies during his two-month stay in Southampton, playing for the Hampshire.
Spinner Shams Mulani (5/71) and Himanshu Singh (4/77) wreaked havoc by sharing nine wickets between them as defending champions Mumbai crushed Odisha.
The focus will be firmly on India's Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane and young prodigy Prithvi Shaw when Mumbai take on Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B game, beginning in Mumbai on Friday. Both Rahane and Shaw failed with the bat in the last Ranji Trophy game against Railways which the domestic giants lost by 10 wickets inside two and half days.
The India Test vice-captain has scored just three hundreds and eight fifties from 48 innings since 2016.
IMAGES from the IPL 2024 match between Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.
Shams Mulani and Tanush Kotian together claimed six wickets for only 23 runs to put Mumbai within sniffing distance of the Irani Cup triumph despite Abhimanyu Easwaran's heroic 191.
'Rahane has so much experience, he shared them with us, offered us tips on how to bat'
'Ajinkya has 12 centuries and more than 4,000 runs in Test cricket. So he knows his game and he has gone through such kind of bad phases before as well.'
Ajinkya Rahane's wretched form will not be a big concern for the South Africa-bound Indian team, feels former captain Sourav Ganguly.
Gautam Gambhir believes that the onus will be on stand-in skipper Ajinkya Rahane to lead the fightback against Australia
He believes that being overlooked for the limited overs leg of the UK tour will give him more time to do his homework for the five-match Test series against England, starting on August 1.
Under Kohli's captaincy, India became the first Asian side to win a Test series in Australia, besides recording some memorable wins elsewhere.
'We were not thinking about a series win because we were just bowled out for 36.' 'The mood in the dressing room was a bit down. Ravi Bhai organised a team dinner. He arranged for karaoke, he started singing. He sang old Hindi songs. Everybody joined in.'
Punjab Kings left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar opened up about the areas he tries to aim for while bowling against some of the best hitters of the tournament in the ongoing Indian Premier League season.
Insisting that Indian players have played on worse tracks back home, vice captain Ajinkya Rahane termed the Wanderers' pitch as 'challenging' and not dangerous.
Ajinkya Rahane wants to take on the New Zealand pace battery with more intent in the second Test. He has a foolproof strategy, which includes countering the awkward angles which became a nightmare for Indian batsmen during the first Test at the Basin Reserve.
Easwaran compiled an unbeaten 151 off 212 balls, and laced his innings with 12 fours and a six on the third day of the match at the Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Ajinkya Rahane said his side were determined to be 'ruthless' in their approach after the hosts demolished Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs inside two days in its debut Test match, in Bengaluru.
