Melbourne: India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane said Friday he would rather focus on his team than worrying about Australia’s ‘mind games’ ahead of the ‘Boxing Day’ Test here at the MCG starting Saturday. Indian skipper Ajinkya Rahane stated that his players would focus on their own strengths rather than think about what the Aussies are doing.
“Australians are very good at playing mind games and I will let them do that. We are focussing on ourselves, what we want to do as a unit and we are going to back every individual,” Rahane said on the eve of the match.
“I think what I want to do is back my team. So focus is not on me, it is all about team and how we want to do well as a team. We are focussing on that,” the skipper added.
Rahane asserted that one hour of poor cricket on the third morning in Adelaide doesn’t define this team.
“Talking about last Test match, see comparatively we had two good days, just one bad hour, where we actually lost it completely,” Rahane pointed out. “We had chat sessions after that. The chat was all about backing ourselves as an individual and as team, play to our strengths and whatever we have planned match just stick to that,” he added.
Rahane also said that the second Test will be about adjusting to the conditions quickly. “The pitch is looking a bit different than the normal MCG pitch,” said Rahane. “Also we are back to the red ball and a day game. So it is all about quickly adjusting to the conditions and delivering your best,” he added.