Playing domestic cricket boosts confidence of players: Ajinkya Rahane

Indian middle-order batter Ajinkya Rahane on Wednesday lauded the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)'s recent efforts to push domestic cricket, especially the red-ball cricket and said it will boost confidence to players as they will get more game time and practice. Rahane told ANI that experience of domestic cricket counts and it is grinding.

"This is a good decision to have everyone available play domestic cricket. This will boost players' confidence. The more you play, the more practice you will get. This will give you confidence. Before my international debut, I played domestic cricket for five years. This experience counts. It is not easy to play domestic cricket. You have to grind it out. Things do not come to you easily. Taking this experience to international cricket with you helps," he said.

Before the start of the home Test season against Bangladesh and New Zealand, several Indian stars like Rishabh Pant, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul, Mohammed Siraj featured in domestic red-ball tournaments like Buchi Babu tournament and Duleep Trophy. Rahane is playing in ongoing Ranji Trophy, having made 155 runs in five matches and six innings at an average of 31.00, with best score of 48*.

The veteran, who last played for India in the Test series against West Indies last year, said he looks to share his experiences with youngsters whenever possible. "Whenever there is an opportunity to learn for me, I ask questions. This is a team sport, you learn from everyone. Everyone's story is different, inspiring and motivating," he added.

In 196 first-class matches, Rahane has scored 13,688 runs at an average of 45.32, with 40 centuries and 58 fifties in 332 innings. His best score is 265*. Also, in 195 international matches for India across all three formats, Rahane has scored 8,414 runs at an average of 35.95, with 15 centuries and 51 fifties in 251 innings and best score of 188.

Rahane said that red-ball cricket is a challenging format and he likes playing it. "You have to give your best every day, every session. You got to know how to switch on and off. You should have fine game awareness. I personally like playing red-ball cricket a lot," he concluded. (ANI)