Ajinkya Rahane reveals Sachin Tendulkar's advice when he batted with Master Blaster on Test debut

Ajinkya Rahane is one of the most dependable players in the current Indian Test squad. The right-handed batsman had debuted in Test cricket back in 2013 against Australia at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground in Delhi. Recalling the match where he had to bat in the middle-order, in contrast to his usual playing position at the top-order, Rahane talked about the piece of advice Sachin Tendulkar had for him. It was the master blaster who was at the opposite end of the crease when Rahane came down to bat, and India were down by three wickets at only 148 runs by then. A debut match is unforgettable for every player and Rahane remembered every detail when he spoke about it in an _ESPNCricinf_o show called Cricketbaazi. 

“When I went down to bat, Sachin paaji was on the other side. He told me that ‘as a player, you want to do well on debut, and every game. But you need to forget all of this at this moment. Just enjoy the moment,” Rahane told former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta, the host for the show. He added that although he had not done great in the match, the advice of enjoying the moment stuck with him. Rahane managed to score seven runs in the first innings and was dismissed after facing 19 balls. The next innings saw him getting out after scoring only a single off five balls. The batsman added how changing the order had proven difficult for him. He said to bat at the middle-order was a bit challenging “but at the time, how difficult is the situation did not even go through my head at the time. I was just enjoying my batting at the time.” Rahane also admitted that he has never thought of anything other than cricket in his life and how everything that he has now in life is because of cricket.