'I don't have a PR team, my only PR is my cricket'

'The Goal is clear, to make another comeback to Team India. There is a belief in me that I will make a comeback.'

Veteran India batter Ajinkya Rahane is a fighter.

His perseverance is his strength.

The No 4 batter may be out of the reckoning from the Indian team, but he has belief.

Now, Rahane, otherwise a reticent man, has exposed the current selection committee, saying no communication took place from them over his exit from the Test team after the 2023 World Test Championship final. He was subsequently dropped from the Test team, not included in the team that toured South Africa last year.

'When I was dropped a few years ago, I made runs and was picked for the World Test Championship final and then was dropped again. But what is in my control? To play. I did well in domestic cricket and in the IPL and was called again,' Rahane said in an interview with Indian Express.

'Whenever an experienced player makes a comeback, one knows that he will get 2-3 series. I knew that South Africa was a challenging series and I was expecting a call, but I wasn't picked. I felt bad because I have been serving for so long,' Rahane added.

The veteran batter expected himself to be picked for India's next assignment, after the World Test Championship final in 2023, but was shown he door, without any explanation.

'I'm not the person who will go and ask why I'm being dropped. There was no communication. Many said 'go and talk' but one can only talk when the other person is ready to talk. If he is not ready, there is no point fighting.

'I wanted to talk one-on-one. I never messaged. I felt odd when I was dropped after the WTC final because I had worked hard for it. I thought I would be there for the next series. There is no point cribbing. I can only do what is in my hands. There is a belief that I will make a comeback,' said the 36-year-old.

Rahane also revealed that he doesn't have a PR team to push his case.

'I was always shy, now I have opened up. My focus has been to play cricket and go home. Nobody told me that going ahead, certain things will be needed.

'Today also, sometimes I feel ki bas cricket khelo, ghar jao. Now I am told I need to speak up, talk about my hard work. People say you need to be in the news ... I don't have a PR team, my only PR is my cricket. I have now realised that staying in the news is important. Otherwise, people think that I'm out of the circle,' said Rahane.

Rahane, who was not in the best of form for Mumbai in the ongoing Ranji Trophy campaign found his feet in the quarter-final against Haryana at Eden Gardens, with a timely century. It was a hundred in his 200th first-class match.