I couldn't sleep after throwing away my start at Nottingham

Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane was in danger of gaining a reputation for soft dismissals after throwing away starts in both the second and third ODIs - getting out for 41 and 45 in Cardiff and Nottingham respectively.

With that being the case, Rahane was delighted not just for getting his first century in ODI cricket in the 4th ODI at Edgbaston but also for breaking the barrier of getting out in the 40s. The Mumbai batsman’s magnificent innings of 106 came off just 100 balls, and it helped India to a 3-0 series win in the ODI series with the 5th and final ODI of the series still to spare.

“Somewhere I knew that a big innings was around the corner,” Rahane said in an exlusive interview with BCCI.TV. “When you are batting well, you don’t think too much. The only conscious effort I made was to focus more between 40 and 50 runs. I spoke to Ravi Shastri and that’s what he said as well. Once I crossed 50, I resumed with my natural game.

“I was really hurt with the way I got out in the third ODI – stumped for 45 – and I couldn’t sleep that night because it was a silly mistake on my part. But I was really determined in the fourth ODI to make it count,” he said.

Rahane said that he was conscious of playing straighter and not letting his focus waver when he was in the 40s and added that it was speaking to his team-mates which did the trick.

When you get out softly in 30s and 40s, you have to admit that your focus is wavering a bit,” he said. “All my team-mates also helped me realize that, including the captain. He asked me to play as straight as possible for those 10 runs. It did increase my focus level a bit and it was enough.”

Rahane, though, said that it was important for him to not become negative during that phase in an effort to not give yet another start away and was still intent on punishing the bad balls.

“It was similar. When I was on 44, I was determined to hit a six to get to my half century if I get the right ball. When I got to 47, Moeen Ali was bowling and Cook had six fielders up. I thought if I got the ball in my area, I will go for that six. I got it and I brought up the 50 with a sweep for a boundary. So, while I was trying hard to focus, I was also looking to be positive in my approach.”

Rahane’s opening partnership with Shikhar Dhawan is being tried for the first time in this series and only due to Rohit Sharma’s fractured finger, but Rahane said that he has a good understanding with Dhawan and enjoys batting with him.

“The ball was seaming around for the first five-six overs. I told him (Shikhar) that I will look to bat with a positive approach and will go for the big shots if the ball is there to be hit,” Rahane said. “I managed to get four boundaries off Anderson’s over and the momentum shifted totally in our favour.“Shikhar told me to continue to back my game and play in the same way, which I did. That gave Shikhar the time to play himself in and after that I enjoyed his shots from the non-striker’s end.”

Although the Test series ended in disappointing fashion, Rahane said that he has enjoyed his overall experience and has become a better cricketer in the last 2-3 months.

“We were really hurt after the Test loss. The way we came back and played in the ODIs is really great. I learned a lot about my batting, how to approach Tests and ODIs and be ready mentally for any situation,” he said.