Ajinkya Rahane has not been part of India’s ODI team more than two years now, but the Test vice-captain is hopeful of his return in the team as he feels anything can happen in cricket. He last played when the Indian team toured to South Africa for the 6-match ODI series in February 2018. His highest score was an unbeaten 79 in the series where he made 140 runs at an average of 35.

However, he has been a regular member of India’s Test side. He even scored two half-centuries in the two innings during the two-match Test series against Bangladesh and had scored a century against South Africa in the Ranchi Test in October this year.

“In the last two years, I don’t like to tell people that my record is good but yes the fact is, my record is good. Cricket is a funny game and anything can happen. I definitely hope to come back into the ODI team,” Ajinkya Rahane told PTI.

After his exclusion from the World Cup squad, he went on to play county cricket for Hampshire. He said that spending time away from the team helped him find his form during India’s tour of West Indies.

Read here: South Africa Captain Faf du Plessis Looks for Fresh Start

“At times, we get too caught up in our pursuit of success and then we suddenly realize that we are required to just stop, sit back and introspect. I did exactly that when I wasn’t selected for the 2019 World Cup,” Rahane shared.

“I am in a very good space right now and it started from the West Indies series. I was in England, playing county cricket where I learned a lot, not only as a cricketer but also as a human being. In two months, I played seven games. So it wasn’t always about on-field learnings but also about off-field learning,” he expressed.

“I sometimes walked alone in the parks, at times jogged. Sometimes I would simply sit with a cup of coffee thinking about past days, thinking about my younger days, what used to be my mindset when I played club cricket or age-group cricket before I made my international debut. I needed some answers and got them,” he concluded.