Ajinkya Rahane is contented man as long as contributions bringing out positive good results

Despite his average performance during the ongoing IPL, Rising Pune Supergiant opener Ajinkya Rahane is a contented man as long as his contributions are bringing out positive results for his side.

Rahane so far has hit just one fifty (60 off 48 balls) in the ongoing IPL and that too came in the lung opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 5.

Thereafter, Rahane’s bat went silent but the right-hander said he satisfied with his personal form.

“I am happy the way I am batting at the moment. It is important to spend time in the middle. Right now the way I am middling and timing the ball, I am really happy. As long as we are winning matches I am happy because that is important,” Rahane said at the post-match press conference last night.

“Switching from Test to T20 format is about mental adjustment and I did that completely well,” he said.

Rising Pune Supergiant last night halted Mumbai Indians’ winning streak by clinching a three-run win in a thriller of a contest at the Wankhede stadium here.

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Mumbai needed 17 runs in the last over for a win but Rsing Pune Supergiant left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat did just to clinch the encounter in his side’s favour.

Asked Rahane about the rationale behind the final over to Unadkat over Shardul Thakur, he said, “After the 19^th over, when (Steve) Smith, I and Mahi bhai (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) were discussing who should bowl between Shardul and Jaydev (Unadkat), we picked up Jaydev. Shardul has good pace and we didn’t want to give batsman the pace in the last over.

“Jaydev’s pace is comparatively lesser than Shardul and his slower ball is effective. The wicket was also little slow and Rohit (Sharma) was a set batsman, so our point was not to give them pace.

“One side of the ground is small and one or two shots in the last over (could have made the difference). That was the planning in the last over.

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The final over also witnessed a heated conversation between Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma and on-field umpire S Ravi.

Having seen Rohit shuffle across the stumps, Unadkat pushed the third delivery of the over wide and Rohit, realising that the ball was veering away from the guideline for wide deliveries, left it alone.

But umpire Ravi didn’t call it a wide that infuriated Rohit and he started arguing with Ravi forcing the the square-leg umpire A Nand Kishore to intervene.

Asked about the issue, Rahane said, “That was a right call by the umpire. As a batsman when you move and if the bowler bowls outside that area goes to the bowler. Rohit’s behaviour at that point was natural. Somewhere as a captain, as a player you feel when the match is so close. I don’t think there was any fault in Rohit’s behaviour.”

“That happens on the field and remains on the field, it is part and parcel of the game. It will also happen in future, but you should respect the umpire’s decision.”

Terming Sunday’s win and the one against Royal Challengers Bangalore as big, Rahane said that each bowler has different stock balls.

“It is not easy to bowl yorkers, everyone has different bowling style. Ben Strokes’ stock ball is the yorker, which you saw in the 19^th over. That over was important for us. Jaydev’s (Unadkat) strength is slower ball. Every bowler has different plan,” he signed off.