Leeds: Indian batsman Ajinkya Rahane joined the bandwagon of Indian players, who have attributed Team Director Ravi Shastri for bringing about a turnaround in team's fortunes with his technical inputs in the ongoing ODI series after their dismal show in the Test matches.
Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan have already paid glowing tributes to the former India all-rounder for his contribution in helping the struggling team and now Rahane is the latest batsman to state how Shastri's tips helped him in converting a good start into a 100 in the last match.
"It hurt the team's chances that I was not converting my starts. Ravi Shastri was very helpful during this phase. He asked me to play the way I was playing and just asked for a little extra focus between 40 and 50. He said, "Once you cross 50, your instinct will take over," Rahane said at the pre-match press conference.
"My focus in the third ODI was to focus that bit harder once I crossed 40, at least for those 10 next runs. After that I backed my instinct," he added, crediting the team's newly appointed director-of-cricket.
"I was batting well in the first two matches (at Cardiff and Nottingham), but got out on 45 and 41. That hurt me a lot because if you are batting so well in good conditions against this attack, if you get a big score it is good for my confidence and team morale," Rahane said.
Talking further about his maiden ODI hundred scored at Edgbaston, Rahane said,"It was really special. After two 40s in the first two ODIs and the way I got out, I was really hurt. I couldn't sleep after the Cardiff game because the way I got out stumped. It was a really silly mistake of mine. I
was really determined in the third ODI. Once I crossed the next 10 runs after 40, my natural game took over," the soft-spoken Mumbaikar said.
