Mumbai Ranji Trophy captain Ajinkya Rahane has praised the BCCI 'for giving importance to domestic cricket.'
Old guard Ajinkya Rahane understands the significance of religiously turning up for domestic matches to become a battle-hardened cricketer. So it came as no surprise when the batter, on Thursday, lauded the BCCI for pushing players towards excelling in red-ball cricket.
The BCCI has been actively urging the senior cricketers towards playing red-ball cricket, including domestic competitions such as the Ranji Trophy.
"I want to mention about BCCI for giving importance to domestic cricket, which is a very good thing. Allowing players to go and play domestic cricket is very important," Rahane said after guiding Mumbai to a record-extending 42nd Ranji Trophy title.
The board had recently dropped middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan from the central contracts list for not taking the Indian team management's advice of playing Ranji Trophy in order to regain their form and prove their fitness.
Speaking about the triumph, Rahane said Mumbai must look to repeat this performance in the next season.
Mumbai won the premier domestic competition for the first time since 2015-16, defeating Vidarbha by 169 runs in the final here at the Wankhede Stadium.
In fact, for the Ranji Trophy behemoths, it was their 11th win in 13 finals alone at the Wankhede.
"For us, what is important is that (in the) last couple of years, as a team we are playing good cricket. Our players are actually going into Indian team and representing Indian team which is a very good sign for Mumbai cricket again," Rahane told the media after leading his team to title triumph.
"I'm not too bothered about other teams, but from here on, for Mumbai cricket, it is important to keep growing, keep thinking about how can we get better as a team in all the formats. We want to repeat this in coming years, so our focus will be on that," Rahane said.
Rahane said Mumbai can be proud of the fact that several of their players are either playing for India across formats or have been around the national side in the recent times.
"This victory means a lot to us. It is very special as you mentioned, (Mumbai) representing almost 10 players across formats and which is a very good sign. We all are happy (for) guys who are representing India right now from (the) Mumbai team," Rahane said.
Rahane, who had described Mumbai's head coach Omkar Salvi as 'low-profile' in domestic cricket, said he made a massive difference.
"Massive difference. The credit goes to him. Our journey as a team started from June (in 2023) and it was all because of Omkar's vision," Rahane said.
"We had some vision as a team but it came from Omkar so he focused on fitness, creating a great culture in the team, giving freedom to all the players, not only on the field but off the field as well. When someone is not doing well, you have to back that individual," he added.
Pacer Dhawal Kulkarni seconded Rahane and said Salvi created the right environment for their side.
"I also like to add that when you want a coach, you want to be a good friend of the team you are coaching. Omkar has been that person who everyone looks up to. He's helped me a lot in my bowling career," Kulkarni added.
