AUSTRALIAN all-rounder James Faulkner has praised his Rajasthan Royals (RR) teammate Ajinkya Rahane, saying the franchise is lucky to have him in the squad.
Rahane has been in rollicking form this season in the Indian Premier League (IPL), amassing 430 runs from 10 matches so far.
His scintillating unbeaten 91 against Delhi Dardevils proved vital in RR’s victory at their adopted home ground – the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai – on Sunday.
“I think he (Rahane) is a class player. Rajasthan Royals are lucky to have him. He has done well for us at the top in this IPL,” Faulkner was quoted as saying by iplt20.com.
“Not just in the IPL – he has also shown his class in international cricket. He has a bright future and all the Indian fans have a lot of hopes for his future and potential in international cricket.
“There’s no surprise… he is getting runs in the IPL again… everyone loves him.”
Faulkner said it was a satisfying win but was wary of the fact that in IPL anything is possible.
“It is nice to get off to a good start at our new home ground. It was a satisfying win for everyone. We started very well and set a good platform with the bat.
“Ajinkya Rahane’s innings was fantastic and Karun Nair as well showed what a good player he is.
“Everything is looking positive at the moment. But everyone knows the IPL is a funny game and we still have three games left.
“Anything can happen. We played a pretty good game of cricket today as a team,” he summarised.
Challenging
The left-arm seamer, who lost his place to South African pacer Rusty Theron in the last game, said there was tough competition for spots in the playing 11.
“I missed out on the last game since we decided to give Rusty Theron a bit of bowling because of his death-bowling skills.
“There are a lot of players in our team who haven’t got an opportunity so far in this IPL and other IPLs as well.
“It is a hard and tough competition and you fight for spots. People like it because it is a challenging tournament,” he said.
Meanwhile, awarded Man-of-the-Match for an unbeaten knock of 91 against the Delhi Daredevils, Rahane said he was not thinking about his own century.
He added that he was looking to score as many runs as possible that would help his team post a good total. Rahane (91 in 54 balls) and Karun Nair (61 from 38 balls) helped Royals register their sixth win of the season.
Rahane said after he was knocked out for 16 against Mumbai Indians on Friday he couldn’t sleep that night, thinking of how he could improve his game.
“After I got out against Mumbai, I couldn’t sleep the whole night. I was continuously thinking about my shot. I was really hurt about that game. And I just wanted to make it count here against Delhi,” he said.
“I knew that I was batting really well. Once I got set, after six, seven overs I wanted to stay throughout the innings.”
Rajasthan Royals take on Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday (tomorrow, 12.15pm start).
A win for the Royals will cement their place in the top four in the elimination round.
Sunrisers need this win to stay in the hunt and this should make for a highly competitive match - IANS