Ajinkya Rahane after County hundred: Plan was to bat, bat and bat

Ajinkya Rahane

The plan was to just bat, bat and bat," said Ajinkya Rahane after becoming only third Indian to score a hundred on debut in County cricket.

Rahane struck a patient 119 off 260 balls for Hampshire on day three of their match against Nottinghamshire here on Wednesday.

"I am really happy with my performance. I wanted to make it count. My plan was to bat, bat and bat. I was not thinking about the runs. I just wanted to be in the middle and put my team in a good position and that worked," said Rahane in a video posted by Cricinfo.

"It (discipline) is very important here as a batsman. I have been talking to teammates about batting plans, how I need to go on and keep batting. Just had a simple game plan, to try and play as late as possible," said India's Test regular.

Piyush Chawla was the first Indian to score a century on debut in County cricket while Murali Vijay was second.

Rahane shared a 257-run stand for the third wicket with Sam Northeast who ended with 133.
"He batted really well even in the first innings. Really enjoyed batting with Sam," he said.

Rahane, who has been ignored for the shorter formats, did not have the best of times in India's previous three Test tours to South Africa, England and Australia.

Talking about the World Cup beginning May 30 in the UK, Rahane said, "I am definitely going to back India. We have a strong side and I am sure it would do well."

Director of Cricket at the Hampshire County had said earlier, "We are delighted to attract a player of Ajinkya's class and with both Aiden and Dimuth selected for the World Cup, we were obviously in the market for a top-order batsman. Ajinkya showed an interest early on and the way things have played out it is a great opportunity to get him over -- we're really excited to have him with us," Director Of Cricket Giles White said in a statement.

"He has enjoyed playing at the Ageas Bowl previously and it is going to be great to have a player of his stature joining the dressing room."

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