‘Want to be a match-winner’

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Ajinkya Rahane—PTI

Ajinkya Rahane’s calm and calculated approach towards the game has often evoked comparisons with that of Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid. The 24-year- old though reckons that he has to learn “how to strike a balance between staying calm and taking things too easy sometimes.”

Rahane, who made his Test debut against Australia last month after warming the bench for 16 months, says he is keen to “improve day by day”. The top-order batsman has been a heavy scorer in domestic cricket, and is looking ahead at a good show in IPL-6 and the India tours thereafter. A look at the other side of the shy Mumbaikar:

Earliest sporting memory: I was a ball boy during the India-Australia series. I think I was around 9 or 10 then, and it wasn’t a time when we used to have mobile phones with in-built cameras. I saw Sachin Tendulkar play and wanted to take pictures, but I couldn’t.

Sports played: Table tennis, lawn tennis

Sporting heroes: Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar

Favourite venues: Mumbai and Chennai

Other sport you would pay the most to see: Lawn tennis

Biggest regret: None

Who would you most like to invite to dinner and why? My family

Person you learnt most from: My father

How will you like to be remembered? I want people to remember me as a good person, not by my success.

What do you never leave home without? My mobile phone

A habit you wish to get rid of: I am very calm and cool, and sometimes it is not good.

Favourite movie: Dil Chahta hai

Favourite song: Abhi mujh mein kahin baki thodi si hai zindagi from Agneepath

Any superstition? I always wear my left pad first.

Funniest fan letter/proposal? I was boarding a flight once, when one of the crew members handed me a letter from a girl. It said she liked the way I play and how I conduct myself.

What if not a cricketer? I can’t think of anything else

Where do you see yourself in five years? I wish to improve gradually and become a match-winner for India.