Focus will be on New Zealand series: Rahane

He is expected to play an important role in the upcoming 13 Test matches at home but Ajinkya Rahane doesn’t want to look too far ahead as it can clutter one’s mind.

“I know I have a job at hand but I never set targets beforehand. I believe setting targets takes you too much into future. Looking too far ahead can clutter your mind. Instead I like taking each day as it comes. Right now, the focus will be on New Zealand series,” Rahane told PTI during an interaction.

Rahane has always emphasised on doing homework against particular oppositions and it would not be any different this time also when New Zealand visit India for a three-Test and five-ODI series, starting later this month.

“I always discuss my batting with my childhood coach Praveen Amre. It won’t be any different this time also.  Obviously the preparations for each series is slightly different. But obviously you never reveal your strategy before the series starts. The key is to always remain three steps ahead of the opposition,” the 27 year old Mumbaikar said. He termed the New Zealand attack as a good one.

“It’s a decent attack. They have Trent Boult, also good spinners like Mitch Santner and Ish Sodhi. We can’t let our guard down.”

Talking about using of bats with different weight, Rahane said he always uses bats of same weight.

“Whether it’s Melbourne or Mumbai, I have never tinkered with weight of my bats. It’s always been same irrespective of bounce in various pitches across the globe.”

He scored 243 runs including a century and a half century in the recently concluded series against the West Indies.

“I always strive to improve and I am satisfied with my performance in the Caribbean. I had prepared specially to face the Dukes red ball.

“It is different to play red Dukes than kookaburra as the ball seams and swings more than other balls. For that you need to play close to the body and as late as possible. That was my endeavour and I was happy with my execution. It would have been great had we won 3-0 but you can’t control weather,” said Rahane.

He agreed that chief coach Anil Kumble’s passion is unmatched that rubs on into his teammates.

“He has been phenomenal with his inputs. He has left international cricket for nearly 8 years but nothing seems to have changed. His passion is unmatched. He has an eye for every minute detail. He told me that I am doing well and key to consistency is focussing on routines,” he said.