Not looking too far ahead, says Rahane

Mumbai: Opener Ajinkya Rahane, back from the first-half of the Australian tour comprising the Test series, is focusing on doing well for Mumbai in the West Zone One-Dayers and not looking too far down the line towards making the Asia Cup squad.

"The (West Zone) one-day tournament (commencing on February 22) is in my focus. I want to do well for my team and am not thinking about Asia Cup selection. If I do well and score lot of runs I would be automatically noticed," said Rahane, who is the deputy to newly named Mumbai skipper Ajit Agarkar in the 50-over tournament.

The Asia Cup is to be held in Bangladesh next month amongst India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the hosts between March 11 and 22.

Rahane, who has not played any competitive games after returning home from Australia but has practised over the last 7-8 days, said his stint Down Under was very fruitful as he stayed with top senior players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V V S Laxman and learned a lot from them.

CB Series

"It was a very good learning experience. All the senior players talked to me about the importance of adjusting to the different conditions there. They told me as an opener it was the key to playing long innings there," said the 23-year-old player who has turned out in 11 ODIs since his debut in England last year.

About being elevated as vice captain, the opener said that he would learn things about leading a side by observing a senior teammate like Agarkar.

"I would learn from Ajit and other players to read the game better in different situations," Rahane said after the team's net session at the Wankhede Stadium.

Mumbai take on Baroda in their league opener while in the other game scheduled on Wednesday, Maharashtra clash with Gujarat at the Mumbai Cricket Association's BKC complex.