Rahane drawing inspiration from Tendulkar

Ajinkya Rahane has achieved the primary goal of sharing dressing room with idol Sachin Tendulkar and the Mumbai top order batsman now wants to see his other dream -- of making India debut -- come true.

Playing for Mumbai Indians in the second Indian Premier League in South Africa, Rahane fulfilled his long-cherished dream of sharing the dressing room with his idol.

"It was a dream-come-true for me to share the dressing room with Sachin bhai. I was on top of the world. I not only shared the dressing room with him but also batted with him, sharing a 70-plus partnership in a match," an awe-struck Rahane, in Dharamshala to represent Indian Oil in the BCCI Corporate Cup, told PTI.

"Sachin bhai is my role model, right from childhood, not just on the field but off the field also. He inspired me to start playing cricket and now I am drawing inspiration from him to make it to the Indian team some day," he said.

The right-hander said interaction with Tendulkar helped him to brush off the cobwebs and he learnt a lot from the master batsman.

"He helped me a lot in correcting my flaws in batting and gave me tips. I have learnt a lot from him," he said.

Rahane became only the 11th Indian player to have scored 1000 runs in a single Ranji season last year but the Mumbaikar believes it was his performance in the IPL II which caught the selectors' eye and earned him a place in the Champions Trophy list of probables.

"It was great to perform with the bat in IPL in South Africa. It was a very challenging task and I am happy that I grabbed that opportunity in bowler-friendly conditions there," he said. 

"IPL also gave me the chance to play alongside some star international cricketers," he added. 

Rahane, however, could not make it when the Champions Trophy long list was pruned. 

"It was great to be in the probables' list but at the end it is disappointing to not have made the final team. But this has made me even more determined to raise my performance this season," Rahane, who played a crucial factor in Mumbai's 38th Ranji title win, said. 

With the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and captain MS Dhoni in the middle-oder, Rahane knows his entry would be far from a cakewalk, but the Mumbai lad said he would not shy away from competition. 

"Actually, competition is something I love. It drives me to work harder and for any team, competition is a positive sign," Rahane signed off.