Ajinkya Rahane reiterates the importance of starting well

Indian vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has underlined the importance of beginning well in the series against New Zealand that is set to begin on the 22nd of September at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur. While the occasion will most certainly be the fact that this is, in fact, India’s 500th Test, the Indian vice-captain has reiterated the importance of getting off to a good start.

Speaking ahead of the match, Rahane said that a good beginning was indeed essential to carry the momentum against what is most definitely a strong and gritty New Zealand side.

“A good beginning is a must to carry forward the momentum. The first Test will be crucial as it will set the tone for the rest of the series. As this is the 500th Test, we want to win here. That will be the biggest celebration for the side.”

Speaking about the wicket and how it will behave, Rahane said that he would expect slowness and turn. Having played a substantial amount of his early cricket in Kanpur one might as well be tempted to follow his advice.

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“Traditionally it has been slow and low. How it will behave in the coming days I don’t know. Hopefully, it should turn, as wickets generally do in India. But instead of focusing on the wicket, we would like to focus on our cricket.”

Rahane also went ahead and warned the Indians about taking the visitors lightly in spite of the home advantage. “They (the New Zealanders) have played some decent cricket of late, and we can’t take them lightly.”

Finally, speaking about New Zealand’s performance in the practice match, Rahane said, “You can’t judge bowlers by just one practice match,” he said when told that the visiting spin trio of Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner, and Mark Craig was not very effective in the three-day game against Mumbai in New Delhi. “Playing a practice match is different and playing in Tests is different.”

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